6 Candidates Are Vying for 2 Seats on Moorpark School Board : Education: The future of the old high school, cross-town busing and two complicated lawsuits are key issues in the Nov. 7 election.

The future of an old high school, cross-town busing and a pair of complicated lawsuits are the leading issues as the Moorpark Unified School District, one of the fastest-growing school systems in the state, readies for a school board election.

Six candidates are running for two seats on the Board of Education in the Nov. 7 election--those held by President Carla Robertson, who has decided to end a 12-year career on the board, and Lynda R. Kira, who is seeking a second four-year term.

Although the city has vowed to challenge such efforts, the school district is suing over the city’s recent formation of a redevelopment area, which school officials contend would reduce their tax revenues over the years while increasing their burdens. Ventura County and the county Community College District have filed similar lawsuits against Moorpark.

The school district and the city are also embroiled in litigation over use of the mostly defunct Memorial High School site. Lacking the cash to build new schools, the district wants to lease the site to a developer who would build 352 apartments and a business park.

But the City Council is under pressure from downtown voters to provide them with a park--and the old high school’s fields are the most convenient site. A Ventura Superior Court judge ruled Sept. 1 that the city is entitled to the fields. The district challenged the decision, and the judge has set another hearing Oct. 31.

Resentment over busing surfaced recently when a task force evaluating the best use for a proposed new elementary school issued findings that supported the district’s unconventional grouping of schools by grade.

Instead of traditional neighborhood elementary schools housing pupils in kindergarten through sixth or eighth grades, Moorpark pupils attend four types of schools. Three schools take children from kindergarten to third grade. Another takes fourth- and fifth-graders. A middle school takes sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. There is one high school.

District officials say that configuration is necessary to achieve the racial and ethnic integration required under state and federal regulations. Otherwise, they say, the city’s Latino students would be crowded into two old schools in the downtown area where they live, and Anglo students would occupy the new schools being built near recently constructed housing.

The city is about 70% Anglo and 30% Latino. Its classrooms should reflect that balance, said Carin Seebold, district spokeswoman.

The plan has been under review as the district prepares to build a new elementary school near West Village, a residential development under construction in one of the predominantly Anglo sections of town. But the matter may be moot for now because the district has not received funding for the school, Seebold said.

The candidates are:

* Thomas Bryan, 45, an English and mass communications professor at Moorpark College and Cal State Northridge.

He said he has two adult sons and no children in the school district, but decided to run mainly because of the debate over the old high school. “I think it should stay a school,” he said. “It’s a perfectly good school, and it’s in an ideal location.”

Bryan said he favors traditional neighborhood schools and opposes busing children out of their neighborhoods. He said the district’s system favors residents of the new developments over those downtown. Bryan said he supports an open enrollment policy that would allow parents to enroll their children in the school of their choice.

He said he does not expect to receive more than $1,000 in campaign contributions. Under state election laws, candidates are not required to detail contributions if they total less than $1,000.

* Pamela Castro, 37, owner and operator of a preschool and day-care center called P. S. For Kids.

She has three children, all enrolled in district schools. Castro helped lead a campaign last year to recall four of the five school board members. Although the recall failed, Castro credited the effort with forcing the resignation of Supt. Michael Slater and raising public awareness of issues such as the use of the old high school.

Castro, a 1970 graduate of Memorial High School, said the district should continue to use her alma mater either as an elementary or middle school or as the district’s headquarters. Administrators now work out of Flory School. She opposes the plan to redevelop the old high school site into a mixed-used complex, calling the proposal a waste of resources.

Castro said that as a downtown resident, she fears increased traffic that development of the old high school site would generate. She suggested that the district could obtain revenue by leasing a portion of the old high school to the city for recreational use, placing a bond measure before voters or using the property as collateral for a loan.

Castro said she also does not expect to receive more than $1,000 in contributions.

* Kira, 40, coordinator of an Agoura Hills-based Christian organization called Joni and Friends, which teaches churches how to minister to the disabled.

She has four sons, three in the school system and one in college. Kira said she is seeking a second term “because I think a district growing as fast as Moorpark needs experience.”

She cited as a crucial issue the district’s need to find money to build schools and said she supports redeveloping the old high school site. Kira said the old high school is no longer viable because several children a year were injured there because of its steep, multilevel terrain and because the buildings would require several million dollars worth of renovation to meet current standards.

She credited the board with overseeing the opening of three schools and setting curriculum standards that have raised test scores. Kira said she works at her job four days a week and devotes the fifth to the school district.

Kira does not expect to receive more than $1,000 in contributions.

* Sam K. Nainoa, 45, an engineering manager for a subsidiary of the GTE Corp. and chairman of the Moorpark Parks and Recreation Commission.

He has a daughter who is a senior at the high school and a son in college. His wife Gloria, a bilingual teacher in the Moorpark district, sits on a district task force to study classroom grouping.

Nainoa said he sees no reason why the school district and the city cannot compromise over use of the old high school site. As a parks commissioner, he said, he understands the city’s preference for the hilly site’s lower, flat fields. But he said he appreciates the district’s need for revenues and believes that the old high school is no longer adequate.

“That site is very difficult to oversee from an elementary or middle-school standpoint. It’s hard to control kids on a hilly site like that,” he said. Nainoa said he understands the preference for neighborhood schools but said he feels that the city’s demographics and need for integration must supersede tradition.

Nainoa has raised $800 in contributions, more than any of his competitors so far, according to public records. Most of that money came from relatives, but Councilman Bernardo Perez gave Nainoa $100, Nainoa’s statement shows.

* John J. Roberts, 34, a construction manager who specializes in school renovations.

He served on the Parks and Recreation Commission last year and ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in November. He has two children, 6 and 3. Roberts said he has no criticisms of the board or the administration but believes he can help the district because of his school construction experience.

He said he wanted to research several issues, including whether the old high school site should be declared surplus property, and planned to compare the Moorpark district’s approach with those of other districts, including Los Angeles. He said he works from 5:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. and has been spending his afternoons “learning how L. A. does stuff to compare with Moorpark.” Roberts said that the school district and board need better public relations and that he could help improve communications with the public.

Roberts does not expect to raise more than $1,000 for the campaign.

* James D. Stueck, 42, an executive in a financial services firm in Los Angeles.

Stueck has been active in Moorpark civic organizations and ran for the school board two years ago. His son attends the high school.

He said the main reason he is running is to help the community. He said he has always been interested in education. He added that he agreed with the district that the old high school buildings were not worth maintaining and that the site’s terrain made it “tough to keep an eye on kids.” He said he would like to see a public swimming pool built on the lower fields.

He said he supported the district’s classroom grouping because he “can’t see doing anything against the law” and because he feels the city is one neighborhood.

Stueck has reported $200 in campaign contributions.