Fillmore Unified School District

David Dollar has resigned as a trustee of the Fillmore Unified School District and board members decided at Tuesday’s board meeting to appoint his replacement.

Dollar submitted his letter of resignation to the County Board of Education where it was forwarded to Fillmore Board President Tony Prado. Prado read the letter to an overflow crowd at the February 2 meeting.
Instead of holding a special election run by the county, which would be billed to the district, Prado said: “Consensus is that we will appoint someone to fill the position.” Under FUSD bylaws the board shall advertise in the local media to solicit candidate applications. A committee consisting of less than a quorum of the board shall ensure that applicants are eligible for board membership and announce the names of the eligible candidates. The board shall interview the candidates at a public meeting, accept oral or written public input and select the provisional appointee by a majority vote.

Interested applicants must be 18 or older, a U.S. Citizen, live in the FUSD boundaries and not be an employee of the district. Applications should be submitted by March 1 at 4:30 pm Applications can be picked up at the FUSD office at 627 Sespe Avenue. Interviews will take place at the regular board meeting on March 9. The appointment will be made on March 23. The new board member will take the oath of office on March 30 during a joint session with the City Council at the City Hall.

San Cayetano School was chosen last year to participate in a NASA grant for a program called Space Kids where they interact with astronauts. They are one of 10 schools in the country to be chosen and even had to compete with college students to get the grant. Four students, along with their fifth grade teacher Melanie Chisolm and school Principal Jan Marholin, demonstrated their project. The project concerns reduced gravity, also know as micro gravity. The students have participated in video conferencing with their assigned astronaut. The community is invited to their Science Night April 8 where the micro gravity will be present to give more information.
The board heard an updated report from Fillmore High School Principal John Wilbur on graduation requirements and the advanced placement program. He said their goal is to provide students with a rigorous high school experience, similar to other California high schools. He told trustees that they have four reading intervention classes for students who are reading at the sixth grade level or below. They also have three math intervention classes. Wilbur added that the WASC Accreditation Committee recognized the rigor in FHS curriculum and graduation requirements and the number of students meeting the challenge. The AVID program is also there to help all students, whether or not they are in the advanced placement program or not.

Karen Ashim, FHS Head Counselor told the board of recent college graduates from Fillmore, including two from Harvard, one from Stanford, one from the Air Force Academy, two from the University of San Diego, two from USC, three from Cal Lutheran University, one from Loyola and one from Azusa Pacific University. “We have more students graduating from college than Moorpark High,” said Board President Prado.

Mike Bush, Assistant Superintendent for Business told the board that the budget shortfall is still unresolved. What the budget gap will be is still uncertain and Bush said the district is still in talks with the CSEA (California State Employees' Association) and the FUTA (Fillmore Unified Teachers' Association). Bush said one possible avenue to make up for the budget gap would be to cut student days by five, which would save $578,000. “The board can set the calendar but the employee work year is negotiable,” Bush added. Another budget saving idea would be to switch the health benefit plan. That would save $500,000. The last idea is the realignment of categorical funding.

The next regular board meeting will be held February 16 with a closed session at 5:15 pm and the public session at 6:00 pm in the board room at 627 Sespe Avenue.