CSF

Local bands rock out

Jacob Malone Back Cover Editor

On Sept. 28 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., high schoolers from across the Conejo Valley gathered at the Fall Jam Fest to watch local bands perform. Th e event took place at the Th ousand Oaks Teen Center, located off of Janss Road near the Th ousand Oaks Library. Th e event cost $10 to get in at the door, or $8 when buying tickets from the band members themselves.

Jack Martino, sophomore, is the lead guitarist of Stereo Fidelity, a local band that performed at the Jam Fest.

“Th e Fall Jam Fest is about the community coming together,” Martino said. “I made so many new friends from the crowd and other bands.”

Along with Stereo Fidelity, fi ve other bands performed at the Fall Jam Fest: Rebel Romance, Madam Bombs, Carpool League, Liquid Indigo and Th e Michael Cain Experience.

“Th e best part about the event was meeting new bands and their fans. Of course playing is always a highlight and showing people your work, but meeting new people is always refreshing,” Martino said.

Max Lagerquist, sophomore and drummer for Stereo Fidelity, believes that the Teen Center is the perfect place to perform because of its carefree environment.

“Performing at the teen center is usually super relaxing to me because the teen center shows are a really great time to just hang out with your friends, have a good time and just mess around,” Lagerquist said.

Sini Utermohlen, sophomore, was just one of the many people that decided to drop by and listen to the bands perform.

“My favorite part about jam fest was defi nitely being able to watch people do something they truly love,” Utermohlen said. “Literally just watching how passionate [the bands] there were about their music was so beautiful and refreshing.”

As the night grew late, the audience only seemed to get more and more excited about the bands and their music.

“Th e audience was so happy and there was a positive energy in every inch of the room,” Utermohlen said. “Everyone was smiling and dancing and I could tell that nobody had a single worry on their minds. It was just them, their friends and the music in that moment.”

Slappin’ the bass- The crowd gets riled up as bands perform the Fall Jam Festival. This community event brings students and bands together to enjoy a night of music and fun. “I made so many new friends from the crowd and other bands. It was really great for bonding with new people over some amazing bands,” said Jack Martino, lead guitarist of Stereo Fidelity. Many of the bands and fans come to this event for its relaxed environment and positive energy. Jacob

Malone/Prowler

School board changes CSF designation

Carter Castillo Opinion Editor

Emily Nagamoto Editor-In-Chief

Controversy- The school board discussed the issues surrounding the Conejo Schools Foundation not being registered as a booster this fi scal year. Mike Soules, president of CSF, explained that “(CSF’s) main focus is in raising funds to benefi t and support the enrichment of our students and faculty here in CVUSD.” The foundation was not registered as a booster because the fi nancial policy has changed. Adalia Luo/Prowler

Th e Conejo Schools Foundation (CSF) will not be registering as a booster this fi scal year. CSF will now operate solely under the CVUSD bylaws by the board of education, as stated in policy 1260, in order to maintain offi cial business with the school district. CSF has always been under this policy, however they are no longer going to be recognized as a booster program. Th e policy is meant to allow CSF to support CVUSD fi nancially and with programs such as the GetAhead program run by CSF which lasts 24.5 days. It also explicitly states that even though an outside organization may support CVUSD, the two are completely separate from a legal standpoint. School board policy 1260 states, “Th e Board recognizes that an educational foundation is a separate legal entity, independent of the district.”

When the foundation fi rst started, it was registered as a booster because it did not initially carry its own insurance, but that changed before they obtained their WASC accreditation when they acquired insurance and because the district no longer required it. A booster organization is a non-profi t organization that’s goal is to support a club, entity, or organization and will oft en times hold events to raise money and help promote their cause. Despite the fact that CSF obtained their own insurance, their classifi cation as a booster continued.

Mike Soules, the president of CSF, spoke at the school board meeting on Sept. 17, trying to clarify any misconceptions about the organization’s former classifi cation. “It was important to sign the booster agreement so that we had coverage in terms of our liability and also being covered in terms of being recognized as a booster organization,” he said.

Cindy Goldberg, school board member and executive director of CSF, said, “Th ere was no CVUSD Board Policy in place and the District wanted to be able to codify the relationship. (Th e booster agreement) was the only mechanism available at that time. It never was intended to, nor did it in actuality, operate as a traditional booster club.” At recent board meetings, community members like Amy Chen, a candidate who lost in the 2018 CVUSD school board election, shared their concerns about CSF’s designation. Chen asked the board to compare the treatment of the Th ousand Oaks Chinese School with CSF saying that “(the Chinese school) is charged $70K… so (CSF gets $550K) of our taxpayer money, while another nonprofi t has to pay above and beyond the direct costs to the district.”

Dr. Victor Hayek, Assistant Superintendent of Business, said that, “the chinese school is on there but the csf is not” referring to the blinded list of the direct cost of each organization, and that the Th ousand Oaks Chinese school was and CSF was not on the list. Th e list was brought up in a presentation by Hayek, and it presented the direct cost of each organization and the facilities it uses, however it did not mention the name of the organization, and as Dr. Hayek stated, CSF was not on the blinded list.

CSF’s GetAhead program is a WASCaccredited (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) program that hires its own teachers and principal, pays for the space they use, exists as a separate entity from CVUSD, and only uses school facilities in the summer for 24.5 days. In addition, the school district receives the money that CSF pays from rent.

As Goldberg stated, CSF will continue to “support programs and schools within the CVUSD, provide Cash4Conejo Classrooms grants, off er programs such as the All District Music Festival, Tedx youth conejo, parent/ guardian education workshops, and many other enrichment opportunities for students, teachers, and families.”