To the Editor:
This year will be the 13th Annual Mammoth Lakes Cross Country High Altitude Running Camp. The Fillmore High School Cross Country team takes a trip every year to Mammoth for an 8 day high altitude training course. Each member of the team that is invited must pay $400 to attend. As a team we try to raise as much money as possible by selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and having car washes. It would help if we could get a little extra money in donations from our community to help pay for the trip. I am on the Fillmore High School Girls Cross Country Team and have attended the last 2 years, as a team we ran some difficult trails. This challenges the runner physically and mentally so we can become better runner’s that makes a better team. It is a very fun experience to be able to spend time with each other as a team and do different activities. Both the girls and boys team are very determined to do what it takes to become champions this upcoming season. This year we want to train hard in the summer to see better results. We want to go out, race and represent Fillmore.
If you would like to make a donation, please do so by making it out to Fillmore High School Cross Country Team and mail to P.O Box 672 Piru ca 93040.
Thank you in advance,
Vanessa Avila

***

To the Editor:
Good teachers are not staying in Fillmore. At the middle school alone this year, 8 out of 39 certificated staff have left for other districts. That’s 20% of our middle school staff. The FUSD school board and superintendent need to change this because it only serves to hurt our students.
Teachers who have dedicated their careers to the kids of Fillmore are not staying anymore. A board member previously stated in open session that Fillmore has “high tier and low tier teachers.” Granted, they retracted that statement afterwards, it still makes me think that if that is the feeling, then what is being done to attract better teachers? FUSD’s current salary and health benefits proposal does not do this.
FUSD must have competitive teacher salaries to keep quality teachers here. It’s just common sense. FUSD teacher pay compared to the other 15 districts in Ventura County is 15th. That’s right, our teachers are at the bottom for pay in Ventura County, while FUSD administrators are first in the county for pay. However, who is in the classroom with your kids’ day in and day out? The teachers. So why do Fillmore teachers have the least value?
To attract more hard working, excellent teachers who devote their careers to your kids it’s just common sense to pay a competitive wage or they just get a job in another district. Our students don’t deserve less than the best, help us be treated fair and equal, for Fillmore’s future.
One proud teacher of Fillmore’s kids,
Jennifer Beal, Fillmore Middle School Teacher, 2018 FUSD Certificated Teacher of the Year.