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Thousand Oaks

Response from CVUSD Superintendent

Good Afternoon,

Per Dr. McLaughlin and regarding your article in the Conejo Guardian titled “Nearly Half of Conejo Valley High School Grads Fail to Meet Basic UC, CSU Academic Requirements,” it would be important to note in your article that students that plan to attend out of state universities, such as Arizona State University, Harvard, colleges in Texas, Montana, New York, and the remaining 45 states, do not need to meet the A-G requirements. We would also note that students that are attending private universities such as California Lutheran University, Redlands University, California Baptist University, etc., also have different requirements that may be less than the UC and CSU requirements. The UC and CSU academic requirements must be met only for students that are applying to schools in the California State University or University of California system within the state. Students that plan to attend community colleges, career and technical colleges, enter the workforce, or enlist in our armed forces also do not need to meet the A-G requirements.

Based on this information, the statement that reads, “this means nearly half of all graduating seniors in Conejo Valley public schools are receiving D’s and F’s in foundational classes such as history, English, mathematics, and laboratory science” was false. Thepercentage of seniors with one D or F was 16.3% in the first semester of this school year – again, your data was inaccurate.

The A-G requirement data does not put CVUSD in the same category as low performing schools statewide, as A-G requirements are not part of the state’s definition to identify low performing schools within the state. Moreover, it is unclear what specific “category” or statewide measure the article is referencing when describing low-performing schools. Again, I would emphasize that we have hundreds of students that never plan on attending a UC or CSU school but rather plan to attend a local community college, trade school, armed forces, private university, or out of state university/college and these students’ course sequences align to their future pathway of choice. Attached is a list of all the universities the CVUSD Class of 2021-22 were accepted to, and out of the 256 schools listed, only 24 require the A-G requirements. The comparison data between CVUSD and Oak Park only confirms that more students from that district plan on applying to the UC and CSU school system but does not note all the universities/colleges where CVUSD students get accepted compared to Oak Park students. As an example, CVUSD may have more students than Oak Park that attend Ivy League schools.

Dr. McLaughlin would ask that a correction to your article be included in the next printing of the Conejo Guardian.

Sheri Fehlman

Executive Administrative Assistant, Superintendent’s Office

Editor’s note: The Guardian appreciates the Superintendent’s reply and stands by its specific reporting and the characterization of CVUSD as low performing based on the data presented at the school board meeting and CVUSD’s application for a grant to help mitigate chronically low outcomes. The state may use the term “low performing” in a narrowly defined bureaucratic sense to categorize certain schools. We use it in the generally accepted manner to describe CVUSD’s ongoing academic underperformance based on community expectations, the squandering of endless millions of dollars, and the failure to graduate more college-ready seniors, as discussed at the school board meeting in question.

5 COMMENTS

    • Embarrassed for calling out a paper that lies to there readers to get support because they have nothing else. If they shared facts, there wouldn’t be a need for their cause?

      And you are so concerned that you can’t put a name to your words???

  1. It’s almost comical that Mr. McLaughlin would have a flunky assistant pen and sign this letter.
    How pompous.

    • Do you know Sheri? How do you deduct that she is a flunky? I am curious if you came to that conclusion the same way the Guardian comes up with it’s stories.

  2. That CG solicits response from its targeted reporting means CG is hitting the mark and is under the nose of those it targets.

    Good job becoming a voice of reason and accountability in the community in contrast to others who seemed to have traded accountability for access and who do not often enough report over repeat.

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