For the 2018-2019 school year, the school of choice system where students living in another school’s enrollment boundary can attend a different school of their choice within the district, will not apply to Ventura High School. This means that VHS will only be enrolling students living within their boundary and no students outside of it.

In the past, VHS has received applications from students living outside its boundary and is able to choose which students attend VHS by filling the allotted number of spots they’re granted each year; for the previous school year, this was 20 spots. For the fall enrollment of the 2018-2019 school year, this process will not happen at VHS.

Foothill Technology High School will continue to be a school of choice high school and Buena High School will now be a viable option for incoming high school students within the Ventura Unified School District. The reason for this change is because VHS’s enrollment numbers are at their cap and BHS’s numbers are lower than their cap. Now, VHS can only accept students in their set boundary to keep the distribution of students in VUSD even with other schools.

This change is understood as temporary, and as of February 1, will only apply to this upcoming school year. This is because if BHS’s enrollment numbers rise to their cap, then VHS can return to being a viable school of choice option.

Assistant Principal Chris Murphy wanted to ensure students that all current VHS students who were accepted through the school of choice system will not be asked to leave and return to their boundary high school. These students will remain enrolled at VHS until their graduation.  

Interview with VHS Assistant Principal Chris Murphy.