OUSD, Wtf?! Part I

This is the first in a four-part series about the Ojai Unified School District's ongoing financial crisis.

This story was originally published in the VORTEX on March 1, 2023. Read Part II.

Late last year, the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) informed the Ojai Unified School District (OUSD) that their budget numbers were off, by about a million dollars. According to the county, the district ended the 2021-2022 school year $30,000 in the red.

Whoops.

Just after VCOE's declaration arrived — three new members were elected to OUSD's Board of Trustees — (aka, the school board). (Congratulations?) This trio did not unseat a single incumbent — three multi-term trustees decided against running for re-election in 2022. (We can see why!) A triplet of newly elected trustees: Jim Halverson, Phil Moncharsch, and Atticus Reyes were sworn into office in early December, making the five-member Board majority freshmen. Trustees Shelly Griffen (elected in 2016) and Rebecca Chandler (elected in 2020) are the sole incumbents, and the only women. 

These are the folks who will — over the course of the next t…