School Board Alters Boundary Changes

SIMI VALLEY —  Concerned that a proposal to redraw junior high school attendance boundaries could leave some students with a long and possibly dangerous walk to school, the Simi Valley Unified School District board decided Tuesday to alter the plan.

As originally proposed, the boundaries would have sent students who live north of the Simi Valley Freeway and west of Sequoia Avenue to Sinaloa Junior High School in the city’s southwestern corner.

Board members tentatively decided Tuesday to send those living north of the freeway between Sequoia and Sycamore avenues to nearby Valley View Junior High School instead.

Board members worried about having students walk so far to school along busy streets.

“All those main boulevards the students are going to have to go down? I can’t support that,” said board member Carla Kurachi.

The boundaries are being redrawn to accommodate the transformation of Sequoia Junior High into a magnet high school beginning this fall.

The district will host a series of informational meetings to solicit public input on the proposal before the board votes on the final boundary lines later this month.