On Tuesday, May 25th, at 6:00pm the Piru School Site Council met for the first time since February. School Site Council is an elected group of teachers, parents and school staff which is responsible for the creating and approving a school plan and allocating categorical funds on programs for the students, as well as ongoing assessment of student progress at the school. The meetings are open to the public and should occur throughout the school year.

Piru Resident and parent, Mr. Freddie Galan who is the current chair of the School Site Council, indicated before the meeting began that in the last “10 years” there has been little parent involvement, it has been “mostly teachers” making decisions at the school. Mr. Galan indicated that “(we) have learned from our mistakes”, and he is glad to see more parents involved and attending meetings, especially the Spanish speaking parents. Mr. Galan began the meeting by providing an official welcome to Principal, Mrs. Leticia Ramos for her first year at Piru Elementary School. This gesture was supported by enthusiastic and standing applause by many of those in attendance.

More than 30 community members attended the meeting, many for the first time.

Ms. Stephanie Acosta, a resident of Piru for about 40 years commented that this was her first SSC meeting, and was surprised that someone who does not live in town invited her. “I am glad I came, but wish someone from town would have invited me”. Ms. Monique Dollone of the Coalition for Accountability in Education contacted Acosta and helped to get many residents to attend the meeting in an effort to get the community engaged in their school in a positive way. In contrast to the idea that outside help may be of value, Fillmore School Board President, Mr. Tony Prado used his time during public comment to warn the School Site Council members to “be wary and leery of strangers in our midst”. Mr. Prado went on to encourage SSC members to “pass on any information [to the District]” they get about those “outsiders” coming to “agitate individuals in the community”. Mr. Prado shared his view that those individuals “want to get something out of the District”.

Several parents, who had attended previous SSC meetings, were surprised that items they had requested information on, had not been included on the evenings agenda. Mrs. Adrienne Theising spoke during public comment regarding a Williams Act complaint she filed months ago with the state. Theising said, “[This was for] our children’s safety” when mentioning that the fire alarm system had not been working properly. She is still waiting for the item to be on an agenda, and to be notified by school officials that the problem has been fixed.

While a draft of the school plan, including a budget was presented to current SSC members, no discussion of any spending for the current year was on the agenda as had been requested by parents and teachers at previous meetings. Piru Elementary teacher Mr. Chris Pavik requested that information regarding the spending of nearly $40,000 be placed on the agenda so that the community can see how it is being spent to benefit the students. He referred to a plan presented at a faculty training meeting earlier this calendar year, where about $10,000 was allocated for after school tutoring for those students who needed it. But the remaining funds have not been discussed at any public meetings, or faculty meetings that Mr. Pavik is aware of.

Following the meeting, Ms. Acosta asked the Council when the questions made during public comment would be addressed, and she was told that they would be discussed at the next meeting which should take place in June. During the agenda building discussion, only the school principal, Mrs. Leticia Ramos had an item to add which was to review and take action on the school plan.

Next week, Part 2: What is the role and responsibility of School Site Council? As presented by Dr. Michael Babb, Director of the Ventura County Office of Education