Students in Ventura walk out to protest proposed cuts
More than 100 students walked out of class at Buena High School in Ventura on Monday, to protest the proposed layoff of school librarians.
Editor’s note: This story is the first in a series for The Star’s annual year in review and focuses on education in Ventura County.
Schools, colleges and universities in Ventura County had a raft of challenges to deal with in 2025, many of them financial.
School districts in Oxnard and Ventura had to cut their budgets and lay off employees, as did the county’s two major four-year universities. Many of these cuts were related to declining student enrollment at schools of all sorts, from kindergarten all the way through college.
Since this trend is likely to continue for years, it’s possible that 2026 will bring cuts to other schools, too.
Allegations of abuse made headlines at some schools, particularly Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, where hundreds of students walked out of class in protest.
And there was turnover at the top of quite a few institutions of higher education in 2025. The presidents of CSU Channel Islands and Ventura College all stepped down for various reasons. California Lutheran University’s interim president became the private school’s ninth permanent top leader.
These were some of the biggest stories of the year in education:
Oxnard district sued over employee’s abuse
Throughout 2025, the Oxnard School District fought a lawsuit filed in December 2024 by the families of two girls who were victimized by a district employee years earlier.
The employee, a computer lab technician, was arrested in 2022 and pleaded guilty to charges, including possession of child pornography. For three years, he harassed and terrorized a handful of girls as young as 10, stalking them and sharing explicit material and coercing one girl into sending him nude photos of herself.
He served 15 months in state prison and was released in 2024. The lawsuit by two of the victims’ families accused the district of not properly monitoring him at work, not doing enough to keep its student safe and not reacting appropriately once the district learned he was under criminal investigation.
In court filings, the Oxnard School District denied any wrongdoing. The case is scheduled for a jury trial in September 2026.
Ups, downs and a few surprises at CSU Channel Islands
Early in the year, the state university near Camarillo learned it would be able to offer four new degree programs, launching in the fall. The number was down from the original proposed but still welcome news.
But looming budget woes came to roost with a round of layoffs in June. Combined with previous early retirements and unfilled positions, the staffing losses amounted to 9% of the university’s workforce.
In July, President Richard Yao announced his departure from the school after four and a half years as top administrator. While he faced hardship with enrollment declines and budget cuts, his departure came as a surprise at least for some.
The CSU chancellor’s office named Susan Andrzejewski, the school’s business school dean as interim.
Schools cut budgets, lay off employees
School districts in Ventura County had to cut budgets and lay off employees in 2025.
In February, Ventura Unified School District approved staff cuts of more than 100 that made up $5.5 million of the school board’s budget, while rejecting even deeper proposed cuts, including the layoff of school librarians. The Oxnard Union High School District worked initially on more than 180 layoffs, which were later trimmed down to 91.
By May, Ventura Unified sent out layoff notices to 48 employee while cutting hours for more than 100 roles, and Oxnard Union handed out 45 layoff notices.
Westlake High students protest alleged sexual abuse
At Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, hundreds of students walked out of class on May 2 for a rally to call attention to what they described as a climate of sexism and sexual abuse. Girl after girl stood up in the quad, held a bullhorn and talked about how they’d been harassed or assaulted by boys at the school.
During the 2024-25 school year, there were three formal complaints of sexual assault or harassment at Westlake High. The students who filed two of those complaints spoke with The Star on May 2, after the walkout. Both are girls who said they were assaulted by the same boy, and both said school administrators did not treat them with respect and sensitivity.
The next week, the Conejo Valley Unified School District board said it would reexamine how the district handles such complaints and implement new programs to prevent violence and harassment, support victims and encourage students to report misconduct.
Cal Lutheran navigates enrollment decline, deficit
California Lutheran University underwent significant changes over the past year, many in response to declining enrollment and a multi-million dollar deficit.
Over the summer, the private college laid off an undisclosed number of employees, eliminated six academic programs, and rented out unnecessary facilities on the Thousand Oaks campus. Administrators announced in August that the satellite campuses in Oxnard and Westlake Village would close the following summer.
Tasked with navigating the challenges is John Nunes, who was inaugurated as the school’s ninth president Oct. 17 after serving on an interim basis for nearly a year and a half. Members of the CLU community have praised Nunes for the sense of hope he has inspired on campus.
Ventura College president resigns abruptly
Claudia Lourido-Habib stepped away from her post as president of Ventura College in September, after a little more than a year on the job.
Her resignation was voluntary, but her last months on the job were tumultuous.
A Ventura College employee filed a discrimination complaint against Lourido-Habib, which Ventura County Community College District administrators determined to be unsubstantiated. The employee appealed to the district board, which also exonerated Lourido-Habib. The district announced her resignation a week after the board cleared her in a public hearing.
The district appointed Luca Lewis, formerly Ventura College’s vice president of student affairs, as the college’s interim president.
Staff writer Makena Huey and editors Stacie Galang and Yuri Nagano contributed to this story.
Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
2025 Year in review
- Dec. 25: Education
- Dec. 26: Business
- Dec. 27: Odd news
- Dec. 28: Biggest overall news/Photos
- Dec. 29: Breaking news
- Dec. 30: Government
- Dec. 31: Upbeat news