Students and staff at public and private K-12 schools in Ventura County and throughout California will no longer be required to wear masks after March 11, regardless of their vaccination status. Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration made the announcement Monday, saying COVID-19 conditions have sufficiently improved to warrant the change.

The Ventura County Office of Education is pleased to announce that Oak Park High School’s Team A is the winner of the 2022 Ventura County Mock Trial competition. Westlake High School’s Team A came in second, and Newbury Park High School’s Team A took third place. The winning teams were announced during a live virtual awards ceremony this evening following the final rounds of competition. For the second consecutive year, Mock Trial was held virtually due to the pandemic. Tonight...

Starting on February 16, vaccinated Californians will no longer be required to wear masks in public places, but the mask mandate will remain in effect for K-12 schools for at least two more weeks. Today, the state set February 28 as the date to consider lifting the mask requirement at schools. Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health & Human Services Agency, made the announcement today, saying that additional time is needed to evaluate the latest data about the spread of COVID-19.D...

Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Marcus Foster Memorial Award for Administrator Excellence by Region 13 of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). The award recognizes Dr. Morales’s work on behalf of Ventura County students and educators during a time of incredible challenges and changes due to the coronavirus pandemic.Since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Morales has assisted local school ...

The Ventura County Office of Education is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Ventura County Academic Decathlon, which was held virtually over the past few weeks. The three teams with the highest overall scores this year are:  1st Place: Westlake High School Team A 2nd Place: Westlake High School Team B 3rd Place: Adolfo Camarillo High SchoolThis is the second consecutive year that Westlake High School has placed first overall. Complete individual and team results in all of the vari...

Say Thanks to School Employees • COVID-19 Test Kits and N95 Masks Provided to Local Schools • Equity Conference Registration Now Open • Call for Student Artwork • Computer Coding Event for High School Students • Make a Difference with a Career in Education • Upcoming VCOE Workshops

Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, is encouraging everyone to send a message of THANKS to school employees who are going above and beyond for kids during the pandemic. Email your message to news@vcoe.org.

The State of California completed delivery of 514,562 N95 masks to the Ventura County Office of Education in Camarillo today. The masks will be distributed to Ventura County public and private K-12 schools for voluntary use by students and staff. Each school and district will develop its own procedure for making the masks available. N95 masks fit snugly to the face and provide a higher level of protection from the coronavirus than the more common surgical masks. The CDC says N95 masks filte...

The State of California delivered 132,000 COVID-19 test kits to the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) in Camarillo yesterday evening and this morning. The at-home kits are intended specifically for K-12 public school students as part of a program announced by Governor Gavin Newsom in December. Each kit contains two COVID-19 tests, and VCOE has received enough kits to provide one to every student in the county at no charge. They’re now being sent to local school districts, which wil...

As Ventura County students prepare to return from winter break amid increasing COVID-19 cases in the community, local school leaders are taking all possible steps to ensure the safety of students and employees. While some colleges and universities have announced plans to revert to distance learning temporarily, this is not an option for Pre-K-12 schools. The State of California does not currently permit Pre-K-12 schools to offer distance learning and expects all schools to keep their doors ...