Type Public Students 18,179 (2013-2014) Phone +1 805-306-4500 | Superintendent Dr. Jason Peplinski Teachers about 780 Schools 30 | |
Grades K-12, Adult Education, preschool Staff about 1,070
(about 100 in management) Address 875 Cochran St, Simi Valley, CA 93065, USA Budget 142 million USD (restricted and unrestricted) | ||
Simi Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) is the second largest school district in Ventura County, California with about 18,000 students enrolled in the 2014-15 school year. Simi Valley's students come from the city of Simi Valley, the census-designated place of Santa Susana, and other adjacent unincorporated areas. The district operates 18 elementary schools, three middle schools, four high schools (including two comprehensive schools, one magnet school and one continuation school), one adult school, and one independent study school.
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Simi valley unified school district profile
New superintendent
The Simi Valley Unified School District's Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Jason Peplinski as the new district superintendent on Dec. 9, 2014. He is active on social media and has made goals including keeping more students in the district and increasing communications.
Simi Elementary School Accountability Report Card
The latest published School Accountability Report Card (SARC) for Simi Elementary School can be accessed from SVUSD's website.
The SARC report gave Simi Elementary its highest rating in all areas including the maintenance of buildings. The report also said there was no deferred maintenance funding for the 2012-2013 school year.'
Random Drug Testing
The board voted in 2014 to offer random drug testing of high school students whose parents or legal guardians voluntarily sign them up. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of mandatory drug testing by public schools of students participating in extracurricular activities.
Declining enrollment: School closures
Beginning in 1995, the district flirted with closing schools due to what was then early on-set declining enrollment. Simi Elementary School, in the 1990s, was already considered first for school closure due to high maintenance costs and its small size. Other schools considered at the time were Sycamore, Mountain View, and Justin Elementary schools - all due to declining enrollment. Ultimately, the district voted to not close any school due to backlash from the community, as they had previously closed four schools prior in the 1980s.
Since the 2003-2004 school year, the school district has experienced a decline in enrollment (along with the rest of the state of California). Enrollment peaked at nearly 22,000 in 2003 and was down to about 18,000 in 2013. After reviewing the enrollment figures, a committee consisting of administrators, teachers, parents and community members recommended closing three schools. After hearing public testimony, the committee came to the decision January 14, 2014 to not close any schools and disbanded.
On January 31, 2014, Simi Elementary School was notified of possible relocation of the school due to the overall condition and safety of the campus. Simi Elementary was built in 1926 as the first school in the city. Ventura County has named it a Historical Landmark. The issues at hand regarding the facility and infrastructure are:
The Inspection was contracted through LI & Associates, Inc. who has been monitoring the infrastructure and safety of the school since November 12, 2012. In the latest report dated January 7, 2014, the company, regarding the administrative building, stated, "During process of our seismic retrofit design on this building, we learnt that this building does not have a valid DSA permit. Therefore, this building cannot be used by student per California State regulations."
Due to the cost of needed repairs to the Simi Elementary campus, SVUSD decided to close Simi Elementary. On February 4, 2014, the board voted 4-1 to relocate Simi Elementary to Mountain View Elementary as of February 18, 2014. The school continued to function as a separate school until the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
In the fall of the 2014-2015 school year, SVUSD made a recommendation to close Abraham Lincoln and Justin Elementary school due to a decline in enrollment and approved the closure in January 2015. Monte Vista School is using the Lincoln campus and Early Learner's Academy is using the Justin campus.