Responding to the emotional pleas of parents, the Simi Valley Board of Education agreed to allow children to enroll next year in schools outside of their neighborhoods if they already have siblings who attend the school.

A large number of parents, mostly from Atherwood Elementary School, attended Tuesday’s meeting. About 10 of the parents addressed the board, some tearful, others angry, as they described how they had been turned away from schools where they already have older children enrolled.

"When I went to register my five-year-old for kindergarten, I was told ‘you can’t do that,’" said one upset mother who already has two children in Atherwood.

The district used to allow parents to enroll children in the schools of their choice. There are currently 162 families, with 342 students, in six schools in the program.

Now, with increasing enrollment, schools are too crowded to accommodate children other than those living in the neighborhood. Some of the 29 schools in the district even use a lottery to determine enrollment. There are currently almost 22,000 kindergarten through 12th grade students, with more than 27,000 projected by 2007.

"If a new family moves into the neighborhood and a class is full, that student has to go to another school," said Superintendent Kathryn Scroggin.

Students from out of the area technically must return to their neighborhood schools if the school of choice becomes overcrowded with children from the neighborhood.

"We have never been in that situation. We are very cautious when admitting those students and try to be sensitive," Scroggin said. Patricia Kabesi has a first- grader enrolled at Atherwood and an incoming kindergartner who is excited about joining his brother at the school. But Kabesi and other parents are worried about the psychological effects of pulling older children out of current schools to attend the same schools as younger siblings.

"To take our older son out of Atherwood would be very upsetting. He loves his school, his teacher and his friends," Kabesi said. "This would be so disruptive to our family."

Atherwood parent Janice Kaye accused the board of not planning properly, even going so far as to offer a warning.

"You thanked us tonight for supporting you in (Measure) C-4. I’m asking you to support us as we supported you," Kaye said. "How you decide for our children will decide how we vote for you guys in the fall."

All five board members approved the motion, but expressed concern over families having to be in the same uncertain situation each year. Board Member Janice Di Fatta suggested district staff conduct a survey of existing school-of-choice families to see how many siblings plan on enrolling in the coming years. Board Member Carla Kurachi asked that the survey reflect the next five years.

"At first I thought making a year-to-year decision was the way to go, but after listening to parents tonight, I realize it’s not," Di Fatta said.

Parent Diane Gilbert pointed out that the district has known for the past three years about the existence of her younger son and his eligibility for kindergarten in the 2005 school year. When Gilbert applied for her older son, now in first grade, to attend Atherwood, the form requested sibling’s names and ages.

"You should make allowances for kids whose names have been on the files for years," Gilbert said. "We have our hearts and souls invested in the school. We’re involved in PTA and work in the classroom. We’re not just dropping off our kids to be educated."

Several board members expressed frustration over their inability to seek new schools from developers.

"We are not given the authority by law to demand new schools from developers. That got stripped from us years ago," Di Fatta said. "Do we work with the city council? Do we apply pressure? Yes, we do."

Kurachi agreed that the board could do more, including capping enrollment so that developers would be forced to build new schools.

"White paper the developer saying the district cannot accommodate new children moving in," Kurachi said. "I’ll tell you it really puts pressure on the developer. They do not want to give that paper to a prospective buyer," "We can do that and I really don’t know why we don’t."

Board Member Debbie Sandman pointed out that other communities are getting new schools to accommodate growth and so should Simi Valley. Although she supports considering sibling priority, she also recommended phasing out the option.

"We will try to accommodate families as long as we can, but we cannot displace neighborhood children," Sandman said.

Board President Steven Gould assured parents that the board would do whatever it could to help.

"We will work as closely as possible with families," Gould said. "It’s difficult enough having children today let alone having to transport them to different schools."