Ventura Residents Raise Concerns Over School Move

VENTURA —  More than 50 midtown residents crowded into a church hall Thursday night to demand more information from the administrator of a school for the handicapped planning a move to the area.

The Jameson School, a private school for special education students now situated in Ojai, announced last week it will soon move to 1718 E. Main St. City officials say a two-year lease has been signed and the operator, retired dentist Angelo Elardo, plans to open the school there by Oct. 20.

News of the planned move provoked such an outcry from neighbors that the Midtown Ventura Community Council invited Jameson school administrator Hector Alvarez to answer residents’ questions.

Alvarez sought to dispel rumors that the school is a haven for juvenile delinquents, and soothe the frazzled nerves of anxious neighbors.

The school will have up to 36 students--with such conditions as Down or Tourette’s syndromes--from age 8 to 22, all with learning disabilities. Although one student is now on probation, the students are not juvenile delinquents, Alvarez said. He said students remain at the school an average of one year while they try to integrate back into the public school system.

He reassured neighbors the students would not be on the street unsupervised. The school bus will drop them off inside the gated school compound, and the gate will remain locked until the bus arrives to pick them up shortly before 3 p.m., he said.

Still, the neighbors voiced fears.

Two residents worried that the students with Tourette’s syndrome--which causes involuntary muscular movements and vocal expressions--would scream obscenities at passersby.

Dennis Barry, a spokesman for the Moran Manor Senior Day Care Center, questioned whether neighbors could trust what they had been told.

“We have no information; this is not right,” he said to applause.

Planning Commission Chairman Ted Temple told the neighbors that under existing zoning laws there is nothing they can do to fight the school’s move. He urged them to instead fight for a change in zoning.

The Ventura Planning Commission will take up the issue at its next meeting on Oct. 21.

Alvarez handed out his phone number to residents so they can call with questions.

“Give us a chance,” he told the crowd. “We will make every attempt to be good neighbors.”