Deputy Jerry Peterson received the “Students First” award during Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

On Tuesday October 19th the Fillmore School Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the Fillmore Unified District Office. Members in attendance were Board President Tony Prado, Board Clerk Liz Wilde and Board Member Mike Saviers. Following a public comment period with no speakers the Board recognized Deputy Jerry Peterson with a “Students First” award for this role in past years as School Resource Officer for the District. This seemed to prompt Prado to comment on an item that was not included in the evening’s agenda. Prado stated “[there are issues being raised] with the Board elections”. He went on to say that “the issue is that we have a high crime rate in our schools, that we have problems in our schools, and I just need to clarify”. Prado then instructed “some of the candidates” to meet with the “head guy” to learn that “we don’t sweep things under the rug in Fillmore… we take care of the situation.” He clarified that District staff are following Board instructions to “carry through with any law breaking that is taking place…we want to take care of the situation immediately… Jerry has done that, the principals have done that.” Prado continued his clarification stating “it may appear that we have a higher rate of discipline problems or maybe arrests but I know how they handle it in other districts.” He concluded by thanking Peterson and the principals for not “hiding” the situation.

Student Rep Sean Chandler reminded the Board that there was no school last week, and that the High School is starting a new quarter and new “tutorial session” so that students who have been recognized as needing the “extended lunch break” can get the extra help they need. He announced the upcoming football game against Nordoff on Friday, as well as the approaching Senior Ball on Saturday. On Thursday the Seniors will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from different colleges they may be interested in attending. Chandler concluded with a reminder about the 100th Fillmore vs. Santa Paula football game that is taking place in November.

During Board reports Wilde commented that she met with the District auditors of the budget to “answer the questions they usually ask a Board member.” She was also able to visit Fillmore Middle School and meet with John Schweller the new principal. They chatted about the RTI program and the apparent benefits of the “recycling pipes” in a grass area at the school.

All action items were approved including Resolution Number 10-11-07 to “Approve Reduction in Force and Reduction in Hourly Rate of Classified Employees”, additional “Electrical Installation” at Sierra High School, and updates to Board Policy and Administrative Regulation.

Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Katy Hadley presented the agendas from the Staff Development Day on Monday October 18th. All teachers attended workshops and trainings related to programs, curriculum, and strategies. Vice Principal of Fillmore Middles School Scott Carroll was present to comment on the “great feedback [from teachers]”. He explained “we spent quite a bit of time in the morning on our advisory models and in the afternoon we had break out sessions.” Staff reported it was “very productive.” Fillmore High School Principal John Wilbur was on hand and commented on the Data Wise sessions and the “good feedback” he received from high school staff. Hadley reported that staff from Sierra High visited other alternative learner sites in the County as a way to “always [be] monitoring what they are doing and looking for ways to do it better.” She explained that 43 of the elementary teachers began a three-day training for “Systematic ELD (English Language Development) she explained it’s a way to “apply form and function of the language” across subject areas. Piru Elementary School principal Tricia Godfrey was present and commented that all of the Piru staff that attended “loved it” and she hopes to get all of the staff in that training.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush presented another budget update. He reported that he expects the District to receive an “additional $275 per ADA” above what they had anticipated. Although the State has reported that there will be an “increased deferral [of] $7 Billion, from current year to next year.” He explained that means Districts can “recognize” their share of that money but they will not get it until next year. At this point Bush says, “We could be $4 Million in the hole [at] the beginning of next year”. He explained that this will require the District to again line up some “bridge” financing. He is preparing the Board for the possibility of midyear cuts from the new State administration. Prado clarified asking Bush “the bottom line is we cannot move forward with new programs… we’re just trying to do our best to fund what we have.” Bush agreed with that statement. Bush commented that “our employees have all made concessions… with their healthcare, with their salary, with their work days” and at this time he believes no additional cuts to staff will need to be made. Superintendent Jeff Sweeney added “the reductions that we’ve had … are equivalent to the Great Depression… close [to] 20% over the last 3 years… that has to have an affect on moral, on programs, on students, on everything.”

After Prado reported the schedule of future meetings (Nov 2, Nov 16, Dec 7), he then asked for closing comments from the Board, Wilde brought up thoughts she had regarding the “debates from the League of Women’s Voters… a couple of statements were made … they felt that the Board was rubber stamping.” Wilde continued “I put in at least four to ten hours preparing for this meeting long before I ever get here, so if I’m not asking questions it’s because I’ve already asked them… that’s why I was elected was to come and sit here and represent people and to have that knowledge ahead of time.” Lucy Rangel a member of the public attending the meeting asked to speak. She commented that “you avoid controversial subjects… [that] you should be requesting evaluations on… so that people who are interested can come and sit in and listen to the facts.” Rangel went on to mention that community members who do come and speak in front of the Board feel as though “you don’t value what they have to say… people would be coming to the meetings, but are intimidated.” Regarding Prado’s earlier comments about citation rates Rangel commented “ why aren’t you asking ‘Why are we having problems with all these kids?’… The fact is so many of them hate school, let’s find out why… and what can we do to get them feeling better about school.” Prado responded, “that people have not come to Board meetings… I have not seen any difference [in the number of people attending] than when I first got elected… if parents have issues… where are they?” The discussion eventually turned to specifics around items not on the agenda, the “AR” (accelerated reading) program and times of School Site Council meetings. Prado and Saviers expressed their frustration around lack of parental involvement. The final comment on the record was Wilde stating, “I hope that these folks do have the privilege of being a public servant… it’s a whole different ball game folks.”