`FUNDAMENTAL' SCHOOL PLAN GAINS SUPPORT.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

In a move to widen school choice, the Conejo Valley Unified School District board has asked staff to investigate the possibility of establishing a ``fundamental'' elementary school.

Trustee Dorothy Beaubien said she has heard from parents who are interested in seeing a fundamental school that emphasizes a back-to-basics approach toward teaching and includes tighter discipline and other traditional educational practices.

``It's really very much in the talking stage at this point, but I do think it's something we should seriously consider,'' Beaubien said. ``There are parents who definitely feel the structure in a traditional school setting is good. I think it's good, too.''

The district already offers a wide variety of teaching approaches, with some schools using a more liberal, hands-on and team-teaching method, she said.

With the move toward giving parents the option of sending their children to other district schools with room to accommodate them, a fundamental school would fit right in with the district's goals, she said.

``You can decide which school to go to if there's room and what kind of education your children are going to have,'' she said. ``If we're going to give choice, we're going to give choice to everyone.''

Several district staff and principals have spent the past few months visiting area fundamental schools to determine just what composes a fundamental school, said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instructional services.

Among their findings, according to Simpson, are that fundamental schools have an ``extended'' emphasis on basic skills, computation, correct writing and discipline, with some including contracts that parents sign promising to monitor their children's work and perhaps volunteer at the schools for a given amount of time, he said.

This isn't to say that the district's other schools don't offer these elements in one form or other, he added.

``I think one of the things we're trying to be very careful about is not to suggest that a fundamental school will do what our other schools don't,'' he said.

At a meeting Thursday, district Superintendent Jerry Gross invited any elementary school principal interested in heading a fundamental school to submit proposals, Simpson said.

The principals will likely go to their teachers and parent groups to gauge their interest before making any decision, he said.

Fundamental and structured schools, which offer rigorously organized and taught curricula, began springing up in Ventura County about 10 years ago, said Charles Weis, county superintendent of schools.

There are now four in the county - two fundamentals in the Simi Valley Unified School District and two structured schools in the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District, Weis said. Another fundamental school will open this fall in the Ventura Unified School District.