Almost all seats were filled at Tuesday nights’ meeting of the Fillmore Unified School District board, as a retired teacher addressed the controversy regarding the reassignment of Evalene Townsend.

Townsend was Assistant Superintendent of Human resources, and was recently reassigned to the position of Director of Student Support Services and Special Projects. In an email sent to the Fillmore Gazette, dated September 9, 2009, Superintendent Jeff Sweeney said Townsend had requested a reassignment due to personal reasons.

Mary Ford, who retired as a teacher in the district in 2003, read a list of questions to the board concerning the new position that was created in light of budget cuts. “I am concerned how this will affect the employees and the community,” said Ford.

She pointed out the large number of people in the audience who chose to wear black to show their solidarity in opposing the decision to appoint Townsend to the new position. “We are doing this to mourn the death of integrity,” Ford added. Some district employees, unhappy over how the Townsend issue was handled by the board, said they were fearful of speaking up in public over concern of reprisals.

For more information regarding this issue see:
Mary Ford's Letter to the Editor
School Controversy Continues

District Awards
Board President John Garnica presented awards to outstanding district employees.

San Caytano principal, Jan Marhorlin introduced two nominees for the team award. Because of their dedication to the school and student improvement Inger Overton and Steve Miech received certificates of recognition from the board.

Cynthia Frutos, principal of Sierra High School, nominated April Mendez, new office manager and Hector Vargas, custodian. Frutos said Mendez had many contacts in the district and she helped with the new independent studies program. Frutos said Vargas makes sure everything is in order and works many weekends. He knows many students by name and because of him tagging has decreased.

Instructional Matters
The board held required public hearings on the “Sufficiency of Textbooks and Instructional materials for the 2009-2010 School Year,” and “Adoption of Pupil Textbook and Instructional Materials for the Structured English Immersion Program for the School Year 2009-2010.” Jan Faulkner who recently took over duties at the middle school library told the board that they were short on some book titles and some students do not have textbooks. She was the only person to address the textbook issue.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush brought information to the board concerning the enrollment issue. As stipulated previously at the last board meeting, the district was going to see if there was going to any change in enrollment numbers after Labor Day. He presented information that showed growth from 3,839 to 3,842. The numbers are going to be continually monitored on a daily basis. Superintendent Sweeney stated, “If we find a big jump in the numbers we will bring the enrollment issue back to the agenda.”

Exchange Student
Sandy Butts, a fifth grade teacher in the district is the AFS Intercultural Program coordinator. She introduced Jon Aliev, a senior at Fillmore High School from Asia, who is living with the Butts family. “I’m really enjoying school,” he said. “Everyone is friendly and I love the soccer team.” Each year, more than 2,500 international high school students come to the U.S. with AFS to study in high schools and live with host families. Similar to American AFS students who study abroad, AFSers from other countries have demonstrated an interest in different cultures, completed an extensive application and interview process, and some have raised at least a portion of their own expenses.