Fillmore Unified School District

The March 15, 2016 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Meeting was not a long one but two items reflected the interest the District and a past resident holds with our community. One item discussed during Dr. Adrian E. Palazuelos' Superintendent Report, and the other during a presentation by Assistant Superintendent Andrea McNeill.

Dr. Palazuelos informed the Board of a program that honors our veterans and citizens whose education had been impacted or interrupted by war. The program first came to Palazuelos' attention while working in Sacramento which he then brought it to FUSD announcing it in a newsletter that states; The Fillmore Unified School District Board of Education wants to honor the many contributions of those whose education was interrupted due to wartime circumstances. Former Fillmore High School Students who left high school to serve in the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War, and received an honorable discharge may contact Fillmore Unified School District to receive there high school diplomas. Fillmore Unified School District also presents diplomas to Japanese American Citizens forced to leave high school due to WW II internment. Individuals may request diplomas on behalf of themselves or qualifying family members, including persons now deceased. Those who earned a G.E.D. or graduated from high school while in an internment camp are still eligible for diplomas. To be considered for the spring 2016 awards ceremony, submit applications by April 24, 2016. Applications are available beginning Friday, March 18, 2016 from the Fillmore Unified School District (805) 524-6038 or visit www.fillmoreusd.org.

The second item brought forward by Asst. Superintendent McNeill was the reinstatement of the James Jimenez Foundation Scholarships. The foundation was established on February 13, 2007 to provide financial support for equipment, services and programs at FUSD. The programs include scholarships and internships along with assisting and supporting educational, cultural and scientific goal in fulfilling FUSD's role in service to the community.

From May 2009 to January 2013 a total of $21,850 were awarded to 23 scholars with amounts ranging from $250 to $2,400. The Foundation was dormant from February 2013 through April 2015, but revised on May 4, 2015 with a new Foundation Board consisting of Dr. Palazuelos, Fillmore High School Principal Tom Ito, Asst. Superintendents McNeill and Martha Hernandez. In 2015 ten $1,000 scholarships awarded and $8,000 in requests to be paid in the 2015-16 school year.

James Jimenez, who owned a large ranch here in Fillmore, was an inventor and major donor and supporter of student scholarships. Born August 9, 1913 in San Bernardino Jimenez was the second child to a family with 12 children. In 1911 his parents first moved to El Paso, Texas from Mexico. The family then moved to San Bernardino and later to Los Angeles. Jimenez and his family often vacationed in Mexico at their cousins large hacienda; that is where Jimenez became familiar with crops and the influence corn had on Mexican food. As a boy he worked summers in the fields of Cucamonga picking grapes and off season shinning shoes.

After graduating from Lincoln Heights High School in 1928, Jimenez was offered a full scholarship to Stanford University but turned it down to work and help the family with the goal of keeping his 11 siblings in school. Education was his top priority and to keep himself continuing in school he worked mornings delivering milk and newspapers and afternoons at a machine shop, washing dishes, sanding floors, doing cost accounting and selling insurance.

In 1945 Jimenez started B&L Moulding Supply Company with his partner Paul Bloomquest. Five years later Jimenez began working for a tortilla machine manufacturing company and traveled to areas with a large Mexican community to sell the machines.

In 1963 Electra Food Machinery was formed by Jimenez and Harold Olmstead that developed a series of equipment patents for the Mexican food industry including the production of both corn and flour tortillas, taco baskets, ovens and rails. Jimenez designed an double layer oven that could produce 3,000 dozen tortillas an hour. Today both Burger King and Jack in the Box use Jimenez' patented double-infrared system to cook hamburgers as well as the two belt system to grill patties and heat buns in one operation.

In 2000 Jimenez donated his $1.4 million 546 acre citrus and avocado Fillmore ranch to to create an endowed scholarship fund that provides scholarships for Occidental College, FUSD and Lincoln High students. Jimenez died October 2, 2008 in Temple City at the age of 95.

During Public Comments FUSD teacher Sandra Butts addressed the Board by reading a letter written by a fellow teacher. In the letter the writer questions the course of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the ability, or lack of it, to keep and attract quality teachers with claims that FUSD teachers receive the lowest pay in Ventura County while the administration receives the highest in the County.

During closing comments Trustee Sean Morris wanted to recognize Larry Emerich, a FUSD English teacher who passed away a month ago. Morris informed the Board that Morris had been his English teacher and stated, "Larry was an incredible spirit, always happy....he had a big influence on my life."