California State University Channel Islands

Camarillo, Calif. April 19, 2010 – Since the fall of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck an unsuspecting New Orleans with savage force, students from CSU Channel Islands (CI) have returned annually to the city during their Spring Break to renew their commitment to the city’s recovery.

The trip is part of the service learning component of the Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) program. An interdisciplinary program designed for students interested in environmental topics, it provides education and exposure to both scientific and human aspects of environment issues.

“Service Learning in New Orleans”, is in its fourth year and is an extremely popular course open to all majors. This year CI’s student and faculty contingent to New Orleans included several students from Oregon State University and two of their professors, eager to be a part of the excursion. A professor from Loyola Marymount University and a representative from the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation also participated.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Dr. Sean Anderson, prepared student participants for the intense twelve-day field course in and around New Orleans with pre-trip lectures and preparation. Once in New Orleans, they studied factors that led to the man-made disaster. Students had the advantage of interacting with local experts, survivors, and residents and assessed the ongoing disruptions to daily life and the lingering impacts of poor coastal resource management.

They studied the previous and current levee CONTINUED »

Fillmore Unified School District

FILLMORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010
5:15 P.M. – CLOSED SESSION
6:00 P.M. - REGULAR MEETING
627 SESPE AVENUE, FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA

AGENDA
The public may review or request a copy of support materials provided to the Board Members where the word materials appears.

5:15 p.m.
I. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
II. ROLL CALL
III. PUBLIC COMMENT ON CLOSED SESSION AND NONAGENDA ITEMS, PETITIONS
This is the time and place to address the Board. State law prohibits the Board from acting on issues not included on the agenda; however, requests may be made for discussion of specific topics at subsequent meetings.
IV. CLOSED SESSION
The Board of Education will meet from 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. to consider matters appropriate for Closed Session in accordance with Government Code Sections 3549.1, 54956.7 through 54957.7 and Education Code Section 35146. If the Board does not complete Closed Session discussions at this time, the Board may adjourn to Closed Session at the end of the regular meeting. DISCLOSURE OF ITEM(S) TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION School District Pupils (Education Code 35146)
o Expulsion Case Number 09-10-14 Labor/Negotiations (Government Code 54957.6)
o Update; Direction to District Negotiators (Jeff Sweeney, Mike Bush, Bev Jones, Todd Schieferle, Margaret Chidester) for negotiations with the Fillmore Unified Teachers Association (FUTA), the California School Employees Association (CSEA), Confidential Employees, and District Administration. Personnel Matters (Government Code 54957)
o Hiring, Evaluating, Discipline, Dismissal/Release
PSL# 205
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Superintendent's Office at (805) 524-6038. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the district to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. [In accordance with Government Code 54961 and Board Bylaw 9320(a).]

6:00 p.m.
V. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION Any Action From Closed Session CONTINUED »

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

[Letter from Senator George Runner]

To: Dr. Theodore R. Mitchell, President
California State Board of Education
1430 North N Street, Room 5111
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: PIRU CHARTER SCHOOL ▪ SUPPORT ▪

Dear Dr. Mitchell:
I am pleased to write a letter of support for Piru Elementary School’s petition for approval to become a charter school. The petitioners will be advocating for charter school authorization before the Board on Wednesday, May 5th.

The Piru Charter School Committee has taken considerable time and effort to ensure that its petition conforms to the legal, educational, and fiscal requirements for acceptance. Furthermore, the Committee received recent approval for their petition from the California Advisory Commission on Charter Schools.

I have every confidence that the Piru Charter School will indeed offer a well-rounded, high quality education to students in the Piru community, located within the Fillmore Unified School District.

I applaud Piru Elementary School’s efforts and respectfully urge you and your fellow Board Members to consider their petition for a charter.

Sincerely,
George C. Runner, Jr.
Senator, 17th District

Myth #1: Piru Charter School is an experimental school.
Fact: Piru Charter School is not an experimental school.

Myth #2: Piru Charter School is a private school and you have to pay to attend.
Fact: Piru Charter School is a free public school.

Myth #3: You have to complete volunteer hours to keep your child in the school.
Fact: There are no volunteer requirements to attend Piru Charter School.

Myth #4: There will be no after-school program.
Fact: There will be an after-school program at Piru Charter School.

Myth #5: Parents and the community will have no control over the school.
Fact: The community will have control over Piru Charter School. The Piru Charter School Board consists of parents and community members.

Myth #6: Small class sizes are not guaranteed.
Fact: Piru Charter School will have smaller class sizes in the upper grades.

Myth #7: There will not be a school bus.
Fact: Piru Charter School will have a school bus.

Myth: #8: There will be no Special Ed program or teacher.
Fact: Piru Charter School will have a special education program and teacher.

Myth #9: If you register your children at the charter school, you will be reported to immigration and deported.
Fact: It is illegal for Charter Schools to report people to immigration.

Myth #10: The charter petitioners falsely told people Piru School was closing.
Fact: Anti-charter school employees spread a rumor that the school will close if it converts into a charter school.

Myth #11: Piru School is doing fine just the way it is.
Fact: Piru Elementary is ranked 11th from the bottom when compared to 100 similar elementary schools in California. The facilities at Piru Elementary are in very poor condition according to Ventura County School Board Member Dean Kunicki.

Myth #12: The charter school’s budget is not sound, and the school will go broke.
Fact: Piru Charter School’s budget was independently prepared by one of the best charter school budgeting organizations in the State. The California Department of Education says that Piru Charter’s budget is sound.

Myth #13: The District told a parent who called that there will be no GATE program at the charter school.
Fact: Piru Charter School will have a GATE program and it will be better funded than the current program.

Myth #14: There will be no band program at the new school and all the instruments will be taken away.
Fact: Piru Charter School has budgeted for a 0.25% Full Time Equivalent Band Teacher, which is exactly what Piru Elementary School has now. Under Proposition 39, if the District provides band instruments to the other elementary schools, they must provide them to Piru Charter School. It’s the law.

Thank you for your inquiry on Grizzly. It is a pleasure to share my thoughts with you on this wonderful program. I have been recruiting young men and women to this program for 10 years and in the past have served as a mentor as well. I have also discouraged students from going and have offered other suggestions instead when I think it is not an appropriate option for them. For the record, I DO NOT recruit for any branch of the military and I have always been informed that the Grizzly staff does not recruit or advertise the military as a choice for students either. My only interest is to help students graduate from their high school and to help them with resources that will enable them to be successful in reaching their goals in their adult life.

The reasons why any youth would consider Grizzly vary based on their individual, personal or academic situation. In the end, it is up to the youth and their informed parent(s), to decide if this voluntary program is the right choice for the student. As a counselor, I review the academic history with students and parents, and hand out applications when inquiries are made. In many cases, students can also make the choice to improve their academic situation here at Fillmore High School by asking for help from their teachers and counselors, staying after school, completing their homework, studying for tests, or by enrolling at Sierra High School and/or taking additional courses through Ventura College.

The Grizzly Youth Academy is CONTINUED »

California State University Channel Islands

Camarillo, Calif. April 14, 2010 – The CSU Channel Islands (CI) Foundation announced that the sixth annual Business & Technology Partnership (B&TP) 2010 Leadership Dinner will be held on Thursday, April 22, at 6 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel - Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard, to celebrate CI’s unique partnership with the business and technology communities of Ventura, Santa Barbara and northern Los Angeles Counties.

Leadership and scholarship awards will be presented during the program. The dinner is by invitation and the public is invited to participate. Tickets are $150 per person and reservations and information are available by contacting Marti DeLaO at 805-437-8919 or email marti.delao@csuci.edu.

2010 Leadership Awards will be presented to three individuals recognizing contributions in their respective fields. Award recipients are Dr. Paul A. Rivera, Faculty Leader of the Year; Carl Wesely, Business & Community Leader of the Year; and Peter Wollons, Technologist of the Year.

Rivera, Associate Professor of Economics at CI, joined the faculty in 2002 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Along with courses in economics and quantitative methods, Rivera teaches specialized courses in entrepreneurship, economic anthropology, and international experience. He has published works on diverse aspects of national and international economic issues and served on the Academic Senate of the CSU, the CSU Channel Islands Foundation Board, and the Board of Directors of the University Preparation Charter School. Rivera and his wife, Dr. Colleen Delaney-Rivera, who is also a colleague, have two children.

Carl Wesely founded Wesely CONTINUED »

Fillmore Unified School District

FILLMORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
JOINT MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE NORTH FILLMORE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMITTEE
FOLLOWED BY REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010
5:00 P.M. – JOINT MEETING
6:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING
FILLMORE UNIFIED BOARD ROOM
627 SESPE AVENUE, FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA
AGENDA

The public may review or request a copy of support materials provided to the Board Members where the word materials appears.

5:00 p.m.
I. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
II. ROLL CALL
III. CLARIFICATION OF AGENDA AND TIME ALLOCATIONS FOR DISCUSSION ITEMS
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS AND NONAGENDA ITEMS, PETITIONS
This is the time and place to address the school CONTINUED »

And put you into a bubble , AND let you try on a spacesuit, AND finally let you test your balloon rockets. Don’t miss a FREE evening of fun and learning with hands-on science activities. The San Cayetano Annual Family Science Night is FREE for all Fillmore and Piru students. The event is from 6-7:30PM. Come and see the Micro Gravity Experiment that is going into space, visit with Channel Islands National Park Rangers, and meet San Cayetano’s Robotics Champions. Pizza and soda will be available for purchase. This event is San Cayetano’s community outreach project hosted by the San Cayetano NASA Explorer Team and friends.

The Western University of Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, is pleased to announce that local student William Jolley, son of Susan K. and Robert Jolley, has been seated for the incoming class of 2014. One of the nation’s newest and most innovative colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Western has recently received full accreditation and will seat 100 students out of approximately 4,000 applicants this year. An honor’s graduate of Hart High School, William earned a Regent’s Scholarship to study science at UC Santa Barbara. Switching to Cal Poly to pursue a specialization in Agricultural Biology, he was named class valedictorian in 2005. Since then he has pursued a career of ranch management and beekeeping. William plans to pursue large animal medicine and hopes to specialize in surgery. When he graduates in 2014, he will not be the first, but the second physician in his family. Younger sister Margaret is currently completing her second year of medical school at UC San Diego.
Congratulations, Drs. Jolley!

The "S" Club of Fillmore High School and Soroptimist International of Fillmore is organizing a Community Service Festival. The purpose of the festival is to: *Join hands with service clubs/non-profit organizations in Fillmore and all F.U.S.D. school clubs and work together to showcase our individual club, our non-profit organization and our school clubs. *Raise funds for our club/organization/school. *Provide affordable family entertainment.

We need your support and participation to help us have a good old fashioned festival. The festival will be Saturday, April 17 2010 at Sespe School. All clubs are encouraged to sell three items (ie, food, school spirit clothing, something unique to your club)...All proceeds go to the particular organization/club selling the items. For each item sold the club must also provide a FREE game/event. Such as bingo, craft center, balloon toss...each club decides what they want to sell and which games to provide free of charge.

Advanced registration is required. Please stop at Fillmore Mail Stop, 330 Central Avenue to register and secure your spot.

We will have a final meeting on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 7:00 pm, in Room # 49 at Fillmore High School. Come find out how you can participate and benefit from this festival. Come to the meeting and share your idea or ask your question and to register.

For more information please contact:
Oralia: 524-4326 / magnoliares@sbcglobal.net or
Kathy: kittyvargas@gmail.com

Thank you for your inquiry on Grizzly. It is a pleasure to share my thoughts with you on this wonderful program. I have been recruiting young men and women to this program for 10 years and in the past have served as a mentor as well. I have also discouraged students from going and have offered other suggestions instead when I think it is not an appropriate option for them. For the record, I DO NOT recruit for any branch of the military and I have always been informed that the Grizzly staff does not recruit or advertise the military as a choice for students either. My only interest is to help students graduate from their high school and to help them with resources that will enable them to be successful in reaching their goals in their adult life.

The reasons why any youth would consider Grizzly vary based on their individual, personal or academic situation. In the end, it is up to the youth and their informed parent(s), to decide if this voluntary program is the right choice for the student. As a counselor, I review the academic history with students and parents, and hand out applications when inquiries are made. In many cases, students can also make the choice to improve their academic situation here at Fillmore High School by asking for help from their teachers and counselors, staying after school, completing their homework, studying for tests, or by enrolling at Sierra High School and/or taking additional courses through Ventura College.

The Grizzly Youth Academy is a very structured CONTINUED »

Congratulations to Megan Baker of Fillmore. Megan made the Dean’s List (Scholars maintained 3.6 GPA) at California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks. Megan is a junior pursuing a Liberal Arts degree.

The Ventura County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) is proud to announce a special education staff member who has completed all requirements for the Autism Certification Program in March 2010 and is recognized as an expert. For this certification, candidates participate in a variety of professional development events in order to gain skills and expertise for working with children with autism.

The candidate receiving a certificate is Ventura County Office of Education Education Specialist, Sophia Denise Pannell.

For more information on our Autism Certification Program go to our website at www.venturacountyselpa.com and click the “Autism” button. For more information call the SELPA office (805) 437-1560.

Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Thanks to the efforts of a group of parents who support the Piru Charter School petition, the quality of education for the children of Piru Elementary is already improving. At the recent January 25th County School Board meeting to decide on the Piru Charter, parents and community members presented the Ventura County Board members and the County Superintendent with a presentation of pictures of the run-down conditions of the play areas, buildings and other facilities of Piru School. The Ventura County Board members and the Superintendent were distressed by what they saw. One of the County Board members, Dean Kunicki of Simi Valley, said in response to these photos that he had visited the campus the weekend before with his family, and that he had never seen a school in worse condition than Piru. He urged parents to use a State law known as the Williams Act, which requires school districts to provide safe and adequate facilities for all students, informed them that they should file officlal ‘Williams Act’ complaints to get the campus fixed, and he turned to the District Superintendent, who was at the meeting, and put the District on notice that the conditions at Piru School were not acceptable and that the District is liable for them. County Superintendent Stan Mantooth personally provided parents from Piru School at the meeting with information on how to obtain the ‘Williams Act’ complaint forms, and since then those parents have filed complaints, and this action, combined with the publicity generated by the charter hearing, is bringing much-needed improvements to the campus. Take a look for yourself.