OUSD, Wtf?! Part III

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

This story was originally published in the VORTEX on June 6, 2023. Read Part IV.

“Just looking at the stage and how empty it is is really a testament to the difficult times you’ve been through,”

said fiscal advisor Eva Lueck to the three-member Ojai Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Trustees in early May. Lueck’s remark came as she surveyed the empty spaces in the Chaparral Auditorium once filled by former Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Morse and former trustees Dr. Rebecca Chandler and Shelly Griffen. “But I will say, you’ve met the mark, and it is a success.” Lueck added, “It looks like you’re on track for 23-24 to have a good, balanced budget.”

The three women’s departures — regardless of individual culpability — have marked a significant turning point in the school reconfiguration conversation’s tenor. Not a single Board member elected prior to 2022 remains part of the body. As one former Board member said to me, “Nobody survives this. Nobody survives closing schools.” And in the s…