Schoolboard member John Garnica presents Piru Elementary School Principal Diana Vides with the Administrator of the Year award.

The April 7, 2015 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board Meeting began with recognizing four FUSD Staff and Student of the Year recipients. On the agenda, an update on the Federal Program Monitoring, and discussions on a new Mission Statement for FUSD.

The first to be recognized was Student of the Year David Cadena (who was not in attendance). Cadena, a senior at Fillmore High School (FHS), has been enrolled in every AP class starting as a freshman, and received a 4.0 GPA or higher for consecutive semesters. He was also an elected member of the Student Council and has received numerous awards for his academic and sports achievements.

Classified Staff of the Year was awarded to former FHS graduate Alfonso Martinez. Martinez has worked as a custodian for FUSD for nine years, previously at San Cayetano Elementary School and presently at Fillmore Middle School (FMS). Martinez, who coaches soccer at FHS, was recognized for his positive impact on his school community. School Board Member Scott Beylik spoke of his dedication and remarked that on rainy nights before the roof was replaced at FMS Martinez would drive to the gym at 2am to place buckets in the gym.

Certified Staff of the Year was awarded to Mary Allyn Garcia. Garcia who is presently teaching at Rio Vista Elementary School, has taught at Sespe, Mountain View, and San Cayetano Elementary School. She has four children who have all attended Fillmore schools, and her husband who is also a teacher. School Board Member John Garnica commented he has known Garcia for years and praised her leadership skills.

Administrator of the Year was awarded to Piru Elementary School Principal Diana Vides. Vides is a graduate of UC Davis and the credential program at CSUN. She is the recipient of the ConnectED Apple Award and coordinator for the migrant program.

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This is the final reminder and invitation to the Fillmore Flower Show, April 18th and 19th at the Senior Center in Fillmore, 533 Santa Clara Street. The theme this year is “Bursting with Beauty.” Anyone, young or old, who lives within the boundaries of the Fillmore Unified School District may enter into the competitive categories. However, others may enter just to display their beautiful blooms and plants. There is also a written composition category for youth. Brochures are available at several merchant locations as well as the library. Or, all information can be found on the website: fillmoreflowershow.com

The show is open to the public from 1:00 to 4:00 both Saturday and Sunday. Along with the colorful flowers and lovely plants, the ambiance will be enhanced by piano and guitar music throughout the afternoon. Put the Fillmore Flower Show on the list of things to do as participant or a spectator.

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Dear San Cayetano Elementary School Community:

We are working to make sure that we have healthy classrooms and schools for students. Fillmore Unified is focused on keeping our classrooms and schools free of termites.

Our staff conducted a full inspection of San Cayetano Elementary School with the help of experts and we are now working to implement a treatment plan during Spring Recess (March 30th-April 3rd) We are committed to making sure that our work to address the termites does not disrupt student learning and that it takes place outside of instructional time. As a result, our experts will be working during the week of March 30 to complete a full treatment at San Cayetano Elementary School.

We are using the Spring Recess to complete the treatment and are following all procedures required by state law and Board Policy. The campus will be closed to all staff and visitors during the week of March 30th to make sure that students and staff are not exposed to anything that could be harmful. Staff will work with our experts to prepare our campus for students and staff when they return to school on Tuesday, April 7th. All areas that are treated for termites will be thoroughly cleaned and ventilated as part of this work.

We will continue our work to ensure healthy classrooms and schools for students and staff. Thank you for your continued support and enjoy a well deserved Spring Recess.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On 3/29/2015, the Fillmore Police Department’s Investigations Unit conducted an alcohol enforcement operation. Underage minor decoys were used, under the direct supervision of law enforcement officers, to solicit adults outside California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensed stores to purchase alcohol for the minors. The goal of this operation was to limit minors’ access to alcohol.

Two underage decoys were used in an attempt to solicit others to purchase alcohol for them in different locations throughout the City of Fillmore and the unincorporated area of Piru. Approximately 20 subjects at four locations were solicited during the operation. 1 adult male purchased alcohol for the minor decoys. The one male subject was arrested for BP 25658(a) / furnishing alcohol to a minor.

The Fillmore Police Department’s Investigations Unit will continue to conduct periodic operations in the area in an effort to prevent minors’ access to alcohol.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Fillmore Police Department would like to remind the public that selling alcohol to, or purchasing alcohol for, minors is illegal and that alcohol is a factor in many homicides, suicides, and other unintentional injuries which along with car crashes are the four leading causes of death in 15-20 year olds. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the public to report incidents of underage drinking and illegal purchasing of alcohol.

Location: Various Locations - City of Fillmore & Unincorporated Piru
Date & Time: March 29th, 2015, between the hours of 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM
Unit(s) Responsible: Fillmore Police Department Investigations Unit
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
One (1) Adult Male Fillmore
Prepared by: Sergeant Mario Aguilar
News Release Date: 03/29/2015
Media Follow-Up Contact: Detective Javier Chavez 805-524-2233
Javier.chavez@ventura.org
Approved by: Captain R. Bassi #2978

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Lupita Perez takes second place in both the 1500m and 3000m at the Santa Barbara Easter Relays.
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4x100m relay: Pictured (l-r): Junior Aaron Cornejo, Senior Michael Luna, Senior Hayden Wright and Senior Demitriouz Lozano.
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This past Saturday, the Fillmore Flashes Track and Field Team attended the Santa Barbara Easter Relays. This year the team took 23 athletes to participate. At the conclusion of the meet Fillmore High School brought home sixteen medals with nine athletes earning personal records. Senior Justin Coert, a second year track and field participant broke a twenty eight year old school record held by Robert Zermeno from 1987. The old record stood at 147 feet 9 inches, Justin clips that mark with a throw of 149 feet 9 inches. In addition he set a personal record in the shot put throwing 48 feet 7.5 inches. He has qualified for the Arcadia Invitational which is a prestigious invitational that many strive to qualify for and participate in. Currently he ranked number one in CIF Southern Section Division 4 for in the Discus and 2nd in the shot put.

Our Varsity Girl runner of the day was Lupita Perez. Lupita is a junior and third year track and field runner for the lady flashes. She was the only lady flash that qualified to run in both the individual 1500 meters and 3000 meters. She earned second place in both races where she ran a 4:58.28 in the 1500m and 10:36.38 in the 3000 meter. Lupita set a personal record that day in the 3000 meter. We are very excited and pleased by her performance and look forward see what she can accomplish this season.

In the frosh-soph girls division, our distance quartet earned medals in both the 4 x 800 meter relay placing 5th as well as in the Distance Medley Relay where they earned 4th place. The lady flashes that participated in these relays were sophomores Alyssa Ramirez and Lauren Magdaleno with freshmen teammates Janaey Cadena and Jackie Chavez. Bringing home hardware in the throws competition were both Mariah Gonzalez and Karissa Ibarra. Mariah placed first place in discus and second place in the shot put, while teammate Karissa Ibarra placed fourth in both the discus and shot put.

The Fillmore Track and Field Team hosted the first Tri Valley League meet against Nordhoff this past Thursday. The meet was a huge success clinching all four divisions including Girls JV, Boys Frosh Soph, Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity. The closest score was in the Boys Varsity division with only a five point gap. The entire meet came down to the team effort put forth by all runners, jumpers and throwers that day. Way to go Flashes!

We would like to invite the Fillmore community to our next home meet on Thursday April 16th.This will be our third Tri-Valley League meet where we will compete against Saint Bonaventure and La Reina. Hope to see you there!

The March 24, 2015 Fillmore City Council began with two Proclamations and three presentations. The majority of those in attendance came to comment on the first agenda item regarding the renewal contract with EJ Harrison for trash removal. Two other agenda items were a request to name a future park and a service contract to investigate the City's Fee Schedule.

The first Proclamation went to the many volunteers who donated their time and effort to build the Bike Pump Track. Present to receive their plaque was Greg and Grant Taylor, owners of MG Taylor Equipment, who donate approximately $25,000 of heavy equipment including backhoes, forklifts, bulldozers, loaders and also provided the volunteers to operate the equipment. During Public Comments it was mentioned that MG Taylor Equipment Company also volunteered in the building of Shields Park.

Also in attendance to receive a plaque was Rusty Cochran, owner of Grimes Rock Inc., who donated $9,832 worth of soil. Trucks worked daily nonstop for a week delivering the 99 loads and placing the 1,500 tons of sand and clay, which was over 2,000 yards of export soil.

Mayor Douglas Tucker commented, "It means a lot to have good neighbors like Grimes." Cochran replied, "Anything I can give back, I will."

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