Fillmore's Board of Education met on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. The Board discussed potential changes to the schools, heard facilities updates, honored the Sheriff's Department, and prepared for upcoming meetings.

Mountain Vista Elementary School Principal Chrissy Schieferle with Captain Tim Hagel and Sergeant Dave Wareham presented the Adopt a Cop Program, which is starting next week. The pilot program calls for a cop to mentor each of the three fourth grade classrooms at Mountain Vista by visiting at least once a month. Three deputies have volunteered: Tony Biter, Leo Vasquez, and Danni Delpit. Hagel explained that the program is expected to provide elementary students with an opportunity to build positive relationships with cops in Fillmore. The deputies will start with 40 minute visits to discuss character development; a positive attitude will be the first character trait covered. The program will result in a police presence on campus three out of four weeks per month, will not cost the schools or Sheriff's Department anything, and is expected to prevent negative stereotypes of cops from developing. Board President John Garnica, on behalf of the Board, thanked the Sheriff's Department for their involvement, and honored them with a "Be the Change" commendation.

The Board started to discuss the Reconfiguration Committee Recommendations. The Board asked staff for more information on expanding the home school/independent study program to increase ADA, changing elementary schools to K-6, changing Piru elementary to K-6 or K-8, reviewing school boundaries, and developing a newcomer's class to prepare recent immigrants with limited English skills before they enter general education classrooms. The Community Survey was finalized over the winter break, but has not yet been sent out. The Board acknowledged that discussing the many Recommendations would take considerable time, and actions would be carefully considered.

There will be a joint City Council and School Board meeting on January 27, 2009. The Board plans to include on the agenda: the City-District Joint Facilities Use Agreement, concerns regarding the potential for a track at Fillmore Middle School (FMS), the status of the recycled water projects (including their impact on available fields and how to time projects so that enough fields are available this spring and summer), and the military banner project. The Board is looking forward to getting to know the new Council.

Superintendent Jeff Sweeney thanked Facilities Director Bob Sube, Maintenance Manager Gama Aguilar, and maintenance staff for their outstanding work over the winter break. Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush noted that some facilities projects had been finished over the winter break: the Fillmore High School (FHS) gym floor was repaired, new tetherball equipment was installed at San Cayetano, new playground equipment was installed at Sespe Elementary, and the fencing at Mountain Vista was completed. Weather delayed a few projects; Bush expects the final coat and striping of the all-weather track at FHS to be completed by the end of this weekend. He expects asphalt paving and striping to be completed at FMS in the next two weeks. The water recycling project is a month behind at FMS, but the field will have grass by August. FHS will host a swim meet at the new pool on February 10, 2009.

The Board requested some information from staff. David Dollar asked for the percentage of teachers with less than satisfactory evaluations this year at each school site. Dollar asked that staff verify that coaches have the proper certification required by a new law. Garnica asked that GPA policies be reviewed because he is concerned that non-rigorous elective courses at Ventura College might be used to inflate grades and skew GPA rankings. Tony Prado asked for the number of students taking and passing AP courses. Staff will gather this data and appropriate discussions will be placed on a future agenda.

The Board approved one teacher to work outside her credential authorization, and asked District staff to provide an update on whether any other teachers are in the same situation. Dollar wants to set a goal to eliminate teachers working outside their credential authorizations.

Student Representative Garrett Reilley mentioned FHS report cards came out on January 6th. He said that Juniors are preparing for Prom, and the Winter Formal is this month. He hopes that the Ventura College landscaping class at FHS will continue, because it is improving the grounds as well as teaching the students.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush provided an update on the State budget. Republican lawmakers and anti-tax groups filed a lawsuit on January 6th claiming that fee increases included in proposed legislation were tax increases and therefore required a two-thirds majority to pass rather than the simple majority achieved. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the budget legislation, and released a proposed budget for next year. The State is expected to run out of cash in February. Sweeney said that frequent District budget meetings might be required so that the District can take action as soon as the State's budget solidifies.