To the Editor:
School Board member Tony Prado owes a public apology to Mrs. Sherri Wright and Mrs. Karen Ashim, my wife, for the treatment they received at the November 18th board meeting. Neither of these ladies has anything to personally gain from attending these meetings and speaking up. They do these things out of a sense of obligation to the public and teachers, staff and students at Fillmore High School.
Mrs. Wright was publicly bullied by Mr. Prado into volunteering to join the WASC team. When the subject of parent involvement in the WASC process came up, Mrs. Wright was singled out. Mr. Prado loudly proclaimed, “Do you wanna be asked?” Her response was cutoff with him saying, “I'm asking you, do you wanna be asked?” She had no real option except to say yes. She is an active participant in school activities and likely would willingly participate in the WASC process if properly asked. But the invitation should be made in private, with a full explanation of what is expected, so she could carefully consider whether or not she could fulfill the duties required.
Mr. Prado ignored the Brown Act when he did not call on Mrs. Ashim to speak according the FUSD procedures. Additionally, she was badgered by Mr. Prado at the beginning of her comments about the WASC report. She was told she could only ask questions and not make comments. In fact his statement was another violation of the Brown Act. As she began to speak, he asked why no teachers were speaking up. She politely stated they are scared of retribution and tried to continue. He continued questioning why teachers are afraid. She politely reminded him of his admonition of no comments and continued with her questions. I heard none of the school board members present make an attempt to stop the badgering.
Mr. Prado is no stranger to violations of the Brown Act. In 2010, as President of the School Board he received a four page letter from the Ventura County District Attorney outlining several violations that occurred under his watch and ordering corrections of the board procedures. As a board member for several years it is astounding that Mr. Prado continues to violate the rights of concerned members of the FUSD community.
Larry Ashim

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To the Editor:
Chevron Superfund update chapter two.
Well Fillmore this is a very bias update by Kathy on last month’s Chevron meeting. A Chevron representative gave a very nice long update on the time line and a power point on the groundwater and soil remediation of the Chevron superfund site. It was announced that the specific plan has been submitted to the City. Now they will continue to grade and work on drainage and the technical analysis is being worked on. There was a short discussion on various alternatives that may be looked into later and who owns the land. Later Chevron will install air sparging to which they stated “will not emit odor to nearby neighbors” let’s hope this is true.
A question came up about water going into the Pole Creek and we were told that the newly installed liner would not allow that to happen. What they did not plan on was the 2 days of heavy rain last month which dumped all the water that did not go through the liner but ran its natural path over their sand bags and silt fences and drained directly into the creek down by the rail road crossing. Yes, I do have pictures of this happening. Many questions were asked during the Q&A period of the meeting. Some of them were about cancers, not wanting any buildings, San Cayetano fault line, sealed manhole on Laurel Lane, plumes and what have residents been exposed to.
These meetings are to help the residents see why the Chevron project should go forward. I still feel that this project will not benefit our town but will lead to more empty buildings and lots around our town that we already have. I had a question that I recently asked a Chevron representative regarding statements that they have made at numerous meetings on how their project will not compete with what we currently have down town. I have explained that some of what they are proposing may kill our down town area. I looked over their Fillmore Works A Vision for the Future brochure and on page 2 it states “area along 126 and just north of the existing railroad tracks is anticipated for commercial uses such as restaurants, offices and retail shops”. Is this not what we have down town? I was given a nice email about how it would not be walk –in –trade like our current down town is. Does this just sound funny to me? I do not know how you have a restaurant that is not walk –in or a retail shop? If any one can explain this to me please let me know.
Oh, I finally heard at the meeting from one person who thinks this is a good idea for our town who I do not belive is working for Chevron or the City.
So if you would like to get more information for yourself I invite you to come on down this Thursday March 27, 2014 at 6p.m. @ the senior center to hear all the new info being given. This month I have been told we will have an EPA represenitve talking. The last 30 minutes of the meeting is for the public to ask questions or make comments.
Hope to see you there,
Kathy Pace

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To the Editor:
Parents/Coaches/Fillmore community:
Here is our link to the website, we changed it and enhanced the overall site. Tomorrow is our sign ups 12-2 341 Central Ave. Hopefully we can get that second football team the Gremlins (6 & 7) or Seniors (13 & 14) Hopefully by next week we can get some t shirts out and sell them with the proceeds going to the boys and girls!!!
http://www.socalfillmorebears.com/contact.html
Thank you,
Ram Medina
President/Head Coach SoCal Fillmore Bears
Head Coach JV Saint Bonaventure HS

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To the Editor:
My grandparents owned a boarding house in Fillmore during the 1920’s. The education offered to my father in Fillmore was almost identical to the education I received in a similar pioneer-town in the 1960’s. My daughters’ education began to be far more technical and world oriented than I experienced. Change from a local economy to a world community demands that we ensure all students are challenged and that all teachers are dedicated to continuous improvement.
I first heard about Russom Mesfun several months before I was hired by the Morgan Hill Unified School District to be the principal of Martin Murphy Middle School from 2006-2011. Community members were praising the changes occurring at Brittan Middle School and the positive climate on campus. Mr. Mesfun greeted staff, students, and parents as they entered campus each morning. He was highly visible throughout the day interacting with students and staff which was instrumental in ensuring a safe campus. He moved the English Language Learners from an isolated location on the campus to a center classroom to encourage their participation at school. He implemented the “best practices” for language learners, including how they were assigned into main stream classes. I remember thinking how much I would enjoy working with such a consummate professional. When I assumed my new assignment, we formed one of the most satisfying and dynamic collaborations I have experienced in my career.
Mr. Mesfun and I met regularly on our own time to address the needs of our two middle schools. Morgan Hill is a rural community that is growing into a suburb of the tenth largest city in the United States. Middle school students were not ensured equal opportunities between the two schools, and higher salaries in our surrounding districts regularly drained our professional talent. Mr. Mesfun and I collaborated with our district leadership to ensure our staffs received the finest professional development. We encouraged our staffs to engage all of the students through systematic review of student achievement, knowledge of students’ learning strengths and needs, attention to English language learning, special education and expanded services for high performing students including adding geometry to the middle school curriculum. Our state scores improved but more importantly, the value of the educational services we offered improved. Even local real estate agents communicated the value of our school district to buyers, and housing values increased over surrounding communities.
I understand that in any organization some individuals are concerned when professional expectations are consistent and are raised from past practices that seemed adequate at some point in time. At Britton Middle School, it was important to halt the practice of the teacher who was walking a classroom rabbit during class time, leaving the class unattended and untaught. It was important to require teachers to observe the computer agreement and to not build private business enterprises, or to access dating sites during classroom time. It was important that every classroom have a highly qualified teacher to present state adopted curriculum in a safe and encouraging setting. The former status quo at the school was well known by the students and by many in the community, but they felt powerless to address the issues stated above. Students, parents and staff that longed for a high performing school found an advocate in Mr. Mesfun. He addressed the barriers de-railing their education and ensured that policies and daily practice recognized the value of all students, regardless of race or economic status.
As principals, we are open to whatever statements individuals want to make to the public. We are legally unable to respond or explain our decision making process in a manner that would assist the public in evaluating the criticism we may receive, especially when the criticism centers on issues other than student achievement. We instead focus our energy to what is essential: the equal, and increasingly challenging, education of our young people so that they are equipped for a democratic process in a world-wide market. I was honored as Mr. Mesfun consistently remained in contact with me after he left Morgan Hill Unified School District. We shared what was working to improve student achievement. Mr. Mesfun’s schools consistently improved their academic achievements, including winning the honored Distinguished School award at his Oakland, California middle school location.
Fillmore High School is fortunate to have a principal dedicated to all students, supportive to all of his staff, certificated and classified, and tirelessly expands parent participation. He is a leader that consistently leads by example, never asking his staff to do anything that he is not already demanding of himself.
Barbara L. Nakasone, Ed.D.
Retired principal
California Middle Schools