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Two on school board bow out
The longtime members decide not to run again
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More from Education: K-12Two longtime Conejo Valley Unified School District board members have decided to not seek re-election in November.
Dorothy Beaubien, a trustee for 20 years, and Dolores Didio, a 25-year board veteran, did not file candidacy papers by the Friday deadline. Both said they want to spend more time with their families and pursue other personal endeavors.
"In those 25 years, I've put aside a lot of things because there was always something looming on the horizon ... some project in the district," Didio said Monday. "It's been a very difficult decision, but there are some family things that have come up that require my attention. I just decided it was time."
Because the incumbents did not submit papers, the candidate-filing period for the two open seats in the Nov. 4 election has been extended to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Conejo Valley Superintendent Mario Contini said Didio's and Beaubien's departures will be a great loss to the community.
"They have been the very heart and soul of the district for a very long time," Contini said. "Their main focus has always been for the kids, but they have given so much for so many years that the positive difference they have made will last a long time."
Both Didio and Beaubien said the board's decision to close two elementary schools by fall 2009 and other recent controversies did not influence their decisions to forgo four more years.
"If anything, that made me want to run," Beaubien said. "Education is my life, and it was a very difficult decision, but I have been on the board for 20 years, and I have some other things that are important to me that I've neglected. I hope the election will provide two board members who truly care about what's best for the kids."
Didio, 74, joined the board in November 1983 after serving as a founding member of the Westlake High School PTA. A former substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Didio said she decided to take on the board position because she had "something to offer in the field of education."
"When my husband (Vincent) and I moved here, we felt we should be involved, and I felt this was a good way to serve the community," Didio said.
While on the board, Didio also served as a Ventura County delegate to the California School Boards Association.
Didio said she thought about leaving the board a few times but decided to continue because of various issues she championed, including child care and development of high school performing arts centers.
Beaubien, 76, joined the board in November 1988. She had taught English, speech and drama at various schools throughout the Conejo Valley and in the Oxnard Union High School District for about 30 years and decided to seek the trustee position after retiring from teaching.
Beaubien said she is proud of the various programs established during her tenure, including campus child care, work experience and advanced placement classes.
"I am very proud of the work I did, but that took effort and cooperation from a board that worked as a unit," Beaubien said. "We didn't agree with everything, but we agreed to disagree, and in the end, we decided what was best for kids."
Beaubien said she plans to travel. "It is a full-time job," Beaubien said of the board. "I haven't had a vacation in eight years."
Posted by AnnaWhaat on August 12, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You both have given alot of your time. Its time to just enjoy life and relax...........Thankyou both for all your dedication.
Posted by MATESsupporter on August 12, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hallelujah! Time to start cleaning house of this entire dysfunctional, irresponsible group.
Posted by to_mom on August 12, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dorothy said it best: "I hope the election will provide two board members who truly care about what's best for the kids."
We don't need people who promise to only listen to some of the parents for what they want... but what is truly best for ALL of the KIDS throughout their entire time in our schools -- Kindergarten through graduation. Sometimes, mother doesn't always know what's best... change is hard, and often times very difficult to accept, but can bring positive results - which is what our kids deserve.
Posted by koolwhazzup on August 12, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hooray, the 2 worst "hags" are leaving.
TO Mom-
too bad Beaubion never followed her own advice-she and the other buzzard ran this district into mediocrity!!!
Annawhat-
Dedication to what?? Mediocre educational programs!!
Posted by Locke on August 12, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hooray! The incompetents are finally leaving! It's time for us to have new board members who truly understand issues facing today's parents and kids. Let's stop wasting money at a bloated school district and spend more with kids in the classrooms.
Posted by justamomof3 on August 12, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My hope is that we get two new strong individuals that really put our children, education & community needs first. I would also hope that the two new individuals are respectful to the community and treat us with respect as well. I would love to be treated like the intelligent innovative community members we are. H - O - P - E, Hope it's back. I am so happy I could cry!
Posted by rsrense909 on August 12, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
These two thoroughly incompetent jerks are leaving only because they know they will be recalled or defeated in the next election. Good riddance, yes---but they have done tremendous damage to the CVUSD and the community with the closure of Meadows and other fine schools. Most of the community---even those who have opposed Beaubien and Didio---do not realize how utterly incompetent, if not in the grips of incipient Alzheimer's, these board members are. I had an exchange with them months ago in which their e-mail (especially Beaubien's) was riddled with misspellings, wrong grammar, wrong punctuation, run-on sentences---let alone saturated with arrogance, childishness, and grade-school playground-level "reasoning." In one, the parents who supported keeping Meadows open were labelled "arrogant." Empathy? Beaubien probably can't spell it, let alone define it. It is a catastrophe that such so-called "educators" have had such power over so many schools and children for so long. SO LONG.
Posted by cvfamily on August 12, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good riddance!! I must assume that these two ladies had more innovation and sense of business logic last century than they have recently displayed.
The anguish and stress that these two ladies caused this community is shameful. Hopefully the new board members can correct the damage that they have caused the struggling CVUSD --“Where Performance Does NOT Matter”.
Posted by Ventura22 on August 12, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They are leaving a job that nobody wants, and for good reasons. Being a school board member is working in a hostile envoronment, as no matter what they do, they will always be wrong and upset someone. This is like professional boxing; all the parents/teachers/politicians like to talk as though they can do it, until they find themselves in that ring when the bell sounds. It's like trying to effectively manage a corporation that has lost most of it's income, yet still has expectations of success. There are too many things wrong in the public education system that are way beyond the control of local boards to fix.
Posted by 2wheelsguy on August 12, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Only an idiot thinks Conejo schools are mediocre. They are the finest schools in the County, and the rankings/test scores prove that. Didio and Beaubien deserve lots of credit for that. We need to get rid of Dunn, the clown that wants to turn our schools into churches.
Posted by justamomof3 on August 13, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To Ventura22. I think most people in our community do not blame the school board for the educational mess our entire state is in. The hostile enviroment that surrounds our school board is the fact that they could not work together or with the community. Their methods of reason were certainly "methods of madness". Honesty and integrity were seriously lacking and the fact I think they believed we weren't smart enough to know better. One answer will not please everyone. But I can certainly respect someone for giving their reasoning and sticking to it because they believed in it. These ladies flip flopped from meeting to meeting. They lost the trust of many. If you were there at the meetings for the past six months you would understand the frustration.
Posted by koolwhazzup on August 13, 2008 at 8:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To 2wheels guy-
Obviously, you are unaware of the "real" issues in CVUSD and think that "high test scores" (school district) actually count for something. Wait until your kid applies to college-the only thing that matters are SATs and a GPA. Sorry Bud, but CVUSD
isn't responsible for those as kids now take expensive SAT PREP courses and their GPA is accomplished on their own merit.
Please tell us how the 2 "dinosaurs" are responsible for anything positive in CVUSD. Actually, they have now opened the flood-gates for our schools to become Charters due to overcrowding, inadequate Science-lab facilities,
mediocre Math programs and "ghetto portables".
Why not ask what happened to the 88 mil$ school bond that we all got behind and passed a while back? Mike Dunn is now a hero to many parents, especially the ones at Meadows and due to the fact that he actually surveys us to find out our preferences.
So get over it, the 2 losers are gone-hopefully their replacements will pull CVUSD out of MEDIOCRITY!!!
Posted by elephantpower on August 14, 2008 at 10:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To 2wheels: You are wrong. This district does not have the finest schools in the county. The 3 high schools are barely above the state minimum target of 800. 4 out of 20 CVUSD elementary schools are far below this "C" target. The 4 schools that failed to make the minimum, and which are on report, are Conejo 785, Glenwood 780, Manzanita 737, and Park Oaks 785. There are several Ventura County elementary schools that outclass these Conejo low performers. How about Ventura's Mound, Poinsetta, or Simi's Hollow Hills? They are all in the 900's. There are dozens of others outside of Thousand Oaks that score in the mid to high 800s.
The STAR test was released today. Terrible math results for the Conejo, thanks to EveryDay Math. Remember, the rating of "proficient" only means 65%. Take a look at how many students are not even at 65% in Algebra. (Those are the scores of Basic, Below Basic, and Far Below Basic. Add them up. Sometimes it is almost half of the students that couldn't reach the watered down 65% mark, which is misnamed "proficient".) Ask yourselves, if you got a job review of only 65%, would your boss let you say that you were "proficient" in your work???? Welcome to the upside down world of education, and their kinder and gentler definitions. Wouldn't want to hurt Johnny's self-esteem now, would we? World History in the CVUSD is also pathetic, per this STAR report.
http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2008/Viewr...
Oakpark outshines CVUSD any day, and every day. Also, Foothill Technology High School in Ventura is the best HS in the County, 904 API score. Here is the link to the county APIs.
Posted by lunachick4life on August 14, 2008 at 11:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of you need to "get over" the fact that ALL members of the Board voted to close schools, not just Beaubien and Dido. So, please feel free to share the blame equally among ALL members, not just those who didn't vote to keep your preferred schools open.
And the one to whip up the most anti-Conejo sentiment has posts defending the district as "high-scoring" when it was pointed out that Meadows only scored above the Title 1 schools. I guess name calling and back-tracking is kool these days.
And Conejo's worst hater and proponent of Charter schools from to is here...with stats and all.
Posted by conejomom71 on August 14, 2008 at 11:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, I would like to bypass all the name-calling, threat-making and verbal punches to say that ANYONE who makes a commitment for 20-25 years on ANYTHING deserves respect. We may not agree with all the decisions made by these two ladies but they still deserve our thanks for their hard work. Once we do that, respectfully, we can move on and elect individuals that have an accurate sense of reality, understand the State's budgetary issues and are innovative thinkers. Yes, the Conejo has issues, so do many other districts around the country. We can sit for HOURS and criticize OR we can work together to address the issues we feel need improvement. If you had had the opportunity to sit at DAC or Board meetings you by now know that the State of California does NOT support education. Let's start there.My nieces and nephews live in different states and their schools are state-of-the-art facilities, they get music, art, quality PE with accredited teachers as part of their curriculum. They get transportation, supplies, specialist at NO cost to parents. Yes, we could use changes at Conejo, but I believe we need to stand as parents and DEMAND that California spend more money on our kids and less on the criminals.
Posted by koolwhazzup on August 15, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To Lunachick-
Another fairy tale-read the minutes of the Board meetings about school closures. The vote was 4-1
with DUNN VOTING NO!
Wow, you profess to be such an expert about CVUSD
and don't get the numbers correct. Too much Everyday Math!!
Charter schools will happen here due to frustration with CVUSD UNLESS the new Board can eliminate mediocre conditions that have been occuring in recent years due to the policies of the "gang of 4"!!!
To Conejo Mom-
Question? What happened with the $88 million bond that we all approved a while back? That has nothing to do with State monies. Also, check into the Charter School Law-the amount of money that is available now is incredible, even though it is granted by the State. Some creative thinking by this CVUSD Board could have created a "charter district" and all schools would become Charters and receive more money than they do now.
BTW-so what about 20-25 years? Many of our US Senators have been in office longer than that and
look at what a mess this country is in. It's the voters fault for continuing to vote these crooks (US Senators) and inept "ladies" (CVUSD) into office year after year.
Posted by winky10909 on August 17, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To Conejomom71: So, according to your analysis, "ANYONE who makes a commitment for 20-25 years on ANYTHING deserves respect." Brilliant reasoning! Hitler probably dedicated that amount of time to taking over and running Nazi Germany. Stalin dedicated a lifetime to brutalizing Russia, killing perhaps 20 million people. Mao wiped out many more than that over a lifetime of "dedication." Ha! Dedication is no measure of goodness or constructive work, ma'am. What a naive and silly assertion. (Perhaps you qualify for the CVUSD!) The fact is that Beaubien and Dido might pet their dogs and go to church on Sunday, but they bullheadedly, stupidly---and imperiously---saw to it that schools were closed when alternatives were available. They are, sad to say, unexceptional in the pantheon of elected officials everywhere. Those who think creatively, intelligently, and with the community in mind are always few and far between. Beaubien and Dido's legacy will be school-killing, authoritarianism, and, if you read their e-mail, bad grammar and spelling.
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