In order to accomplish these functions, the Ventura County Office of Education will focus specific effort in the following areas for fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12:
Career Technical Education – Provide effective alternative avenues to integrate academic content standards with industry-specific knowledge and skills to prepare students both for entry into California’s career sectors and postsecondary education. Enhanced articulation and alignment with local school districts, the Regional Occupation Program, colleges and universities, labor, business and industry and insistence on consistent and reliable funding streams for these programs.
Closing the Achievement Gap – Establish and sustain a priority for supporting ALL students to succeed through programs and practices that reflect the highest standards of teaching and learning. Specific emphasis on closing achievement gaps for all student subgroups. Carefully monitor and analyze the number of student dropouts at both the middle and high school levels, identify contributory factors to this data, and work collaboratively with local school districts, the P-16 Council, AVID, SARB and other parent/community organizations to maximize graduation rates throughout Ventura County.
Customer Service and Servant Leadership – Maintain and augment both customer service AND satisfaction through relationship building, responsiveness, and innovative, cost effective services that address these needs. Employ coaching and mentoring skills and engage in meaningful dialogue to build capacity and invest in the success of others.
Educational Technology – Employ both existing and new technology infrastructure to provide a variety of digital tools accessible by all students, staff, parents and community members. Significantly augment progress in 21st Century Learning through appropriate and targeted trainings and leveraging resources with the State and other County Offices of Education. Emphasis will be placed on emerging instructional alternatives and on-line self-directed student learning.
Facilities Enhancement – Continue to aggressively access the State school building program for institutional projects, partner with local school districts as appropriate, and manage resultant projects through to successful completion without cost overruns. This effort will include both renovation and new construction projects in alignment with the VCOE Facilities Master Plan.
Fiscal Management – Continue to diligently perform our statutory oversight functions relative to school district budgets, interim reports, audits, collective bargaining agreements, and any other indicators of fiscal distress; concurrently providing proactive support and counsel for our client school districts. In concert with the Education Coalition and its component groups, advocate for fiscal restructuring and a new financing model which maximizes local control and an equitable weighting system for adequate per pupil funding.
Preschool and Early Learning – Recognizing that early childhood education has clear potential for our students’ future academic and social success, strongly advocate for improved quality and the expansion of quality preschool programs throughout Ventura County and work closely with district, county and all community partners to foster this objective. To the greatest extent possible, promote both child and adult literacy as the basic key to all other academic disciplines and provide opportunities which effectively facilitate parental involvement and empowerment.
Professional Development – Continue to sustain a robust, evolving and cost-effective program of professional development activities for both certificated and classified staff, utilizing speakers, from local to world-renowned, with topics ranging from basic skills to promoting high level leadership. Offer programs that provide leaders with the skills to “move” individuals, institutions and whole systems forward. Promote cultural and social awareness through staff training focused on character building, ethical behavior and personal responsibility in order to develop the entire child.
Professional Learning Communities, Response to Instruction and Intervention and District Assistance – Provide systemic models that include high quality academic and behavioral interventions designed for early and effective instruction to all students. Provide appropriate training for and internal modeling of high-functioning PLCs dedicated to effective sharing of best practices. Perform targeted work with selected school districts in areas including but not limited to governance, human resources, curriculum, instruction and assessment and culture to ensure the alignment of fiscal resources to program objectives and outcomes.
Stan Mantooth was appointed Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, effective September 1, 2008. In June 2010, Mr. Mantooth was elected for a four year term beginning January 2011. Mr. Mantooth has over 33 years of practical, educational, and management experience in the areas of school business and human resources management. Beginnning in 1996, and until his appointment as County Superintendent, Mr. Mantooth served as Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services with the Ventura County Office of Education.