The Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board received some welcomed news during the June 2, 2015 meeting. Sacramento has increased student funding for FUSD to $9,106 per student average for the 2015-2016 school year.

This increase in student spending is attributed to Proposition 30, the temporary tax increase approved by voters in 2012. It included increases in two taxes, income and sales. Taxpayers agreed to the increases, giving Sacramento seven years (2020-2021) to improve the deficit spending California schools were experiencing.

Sacramento now states the recovery was quicker than anticipated. The figures for the seven year guideline stated that in 2015 less than 40% of the gap (deficit) needed in school funding would be recovered. But Sacramento is now reporting that the gap recovery is at 70% of funding levels.

Proposition 30 was mainly funded by the California Teachers Association $11.5M, Service Employee International Union $10.7M, Democratic Committee $5M and American Federation of Teachers $4.1M, and was presented to the public as two temporary taxes. The .025 cent sales tax is due to expire the end of 2016, with the income tax increase to the highest earning Californians to end in 2018.

But as some say, "No tax ever dies" especially in California. Sacramento is already looking to extend the "temporary" taxes. Five months ago, state schools chief Tom Torlakson called for an extension of Proposition 30 beyond its full expiration in 2018. Governor Jerry Brown does not agree with an extension of the taxes and wants to keep the assurances given to Californians that Prop. 30 was temporary.

Board Member Scott Beylik reminded everyone that the tax increases are to expire fairly soon and there is no guarantee that the projected 2016-2017 increase in funding next year will transpire. He said to allocate the recent increased funding very prudently, "Plan and prioritize."

The meeting began with recognition of the FUSD Migrant Speech and Debate Team, winners of Region 17 Speech & Debate Tournament-Rio on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at Vista Middle School, Oxnard.

Fillmore Middle School students with the help of Coach Dinah Emmons brought home four wins in combined prepared and extemporaneous speech-English; (7th grade) Aimee Ramos 1st Place, Giselle Perez 2nd Place, Anahi Pascual 3rd Place, (8th grade) Erik Magana 1st Place.

Also, Fillmore High School (FHS) Coach Marisela Gomez student winners in combined prepared and extemporaneous speech in Spanish were; (10th grade) Montserrat Infante 1st Place, Daniela Castillo 2nd Place, (11th grade) Daniela Orozco 2nd Place. In English (9th grade) Sandra Chavez 1st Place, (11th grade) Yulissa Fregoso 1st Place. Montserrat Infante also was awarded the Ventura County Joe Mendoza Award.

Five of the Ventura County first place winners from FUSD went to Monterey, California May 15th-17th to compete in the State Speech & Debate Winners. Winners include; (8th grade) Eric Magana 3rd Place Prepared Speech-English and 1st Place Extemporaneous, (10th grade) Monserrat Infante 3rd Place Extemporaneous Speech-Spanish, (11th grade) Yulissa Fregoso 2nd Place Prepared Speech-English.

FHS senior Viridiana Quintana received Migrant Education Honor Student of the Year. Quintana participates in numerous activities at FHS including track and field and AP classes.

FUSD is working on cutting its carbon footprint and cash in on funds made available through Proposition 39-California Clean Energy Jobs Act, approved in the November 2012 election. The statewide funding is available to school districts that improve energy efficiency and create clean energy jobs. It starts in 2013 and runs through 2018. FUSD was awarded a planning grant of $130,000 in December 2013 and is presently working on completing and submitting an Energy Expenditure Plan.

Eligible projects include such things as repairs to heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC), lighting, energy efficient windows, thermal shades, solar photovoltaic panels. Schools to receive improvements are FHS, Fillmore Middle, Mountain View, Piru, San Cayetano and the District Officer. The work proposed is retrofit fixtures and lamp replacement, install occupancy sensors that turn on and off when entering and leaving a room, replace heat pumps, install PC management software and replace HVAC systems.

On June 16th the District will request approval for the Energy Expenditure Plan to then be submitted to the California Energy Commission on June 30, 2015. FUSD, if approved, will be eligible to receive the funding next year.

The Board approved a contract for up to $20,000 to fund required hearing screenings of students in grades K, 2, 5, and 8. In previous years the fee for this service had been waved. Districts are now asked to pay the fee that Ventura County Office of Education Department of Hearing Conservation and Audiology's is charging.

Student Representative Irma Torres attended her final Board Meeting and was thanked for all her effort which included well planned reports. Torres then introduced Hannah Wishart-Saviers, who will be the 2015-16 Student Representative/Speaker of the House. Wishart-Saviers is a varsity cheerleader, current junior class president and newly elected secretary of Future Farmers of America.

CAPTION