VENTURA : School Boundaries Subject of Hearing

The first public hearing on a proposal to redraw school boundaries in the Ventura Unified School District will be held tonight at Balboa Middle School.

The hearing is one of four that will give parents and teachers a chance to comment on a controversial plan under which nearly one-quarter of the district’s 15,000 children will change schools.

The plan, drawn up by a committee of district administrators, is aimed at allowing more students to attend school together from kindergarten through 12th grade, cut transportation costs, racially balance schools and decrease the number of students who are bused, officials said.

It calls for the transfer of 3,440 students. In a report last week, officials said the plan will also save $180,000 a year in busing costs and cut 420 miles from the total that elementary and middle-school students are bused.

But some parents have questioned the district’s figures and complained that the proposal is unfair because it would transfer their children to more distant schools and upset the racial balance at some schools, including Saticoy Elementary.

The meeting at Balboa Middle School, 247 Hill Road, begins at 7 p.m.