Confusion surrounds much of the controversy between the District Office and School Employees. Issues include a debate over how many employees are needed at the District Office, limited access to public information, uncertainty over administrators’ salaries, and anonymous communications to the Gazette.

At the April 21st Board Meeting, FUTA President Theresa Marvel had accepted the Board’s offer to hear alternate proposals from the public, and handed out a written budget-cutting proposal suggesting that the District reduce the number of top-level administrators, primarily by demoting administrators and reducing the number of work-days in their year. Marvel argued that the District Office was over-staffed, based on her analysis of other districts’ staffing levels. Marvel’s analysis of the number of top-level administrators in Fillmore, Ojai, Oak Park, and Ventura was based on data she gathered from the Ventura County Public Schools Directory (VCPSD), as published on its website. Assistant Superintendent Evalene Townend disputed those numbers, and provided the Gazette with her own lists based on phone conversations with employees of the referenced districts. The Gazette examined Ventura Unified’s numbers as a sample to determine whether Marvel’s analysis was inconsistent with the data provided. Marvel counted only Supervisors, Assistant Supervisors, Directors, and Coordinators, because she was primarily interested in reducing top-level staff. Townend’s lists of District Office staffs listed many more employee at each office, including specialists, secretaries, and clerks. She noted that Ventura Unified had 135 employees at the District Office. The Gazette based its analysis on the VCPSD but counted Managers and Assistant Directors, in addition to the top-level employees that Marvel counted. Marvel’s count of Ventura Unified included 1 Superintendent, 3 Assistant Superintendents, 13 Directors, and 1 Coordinator. The modified count included 1 Superintendent, 3 Assistant Superintendents, 13 Directors, 2 Coordinators, 4 Assistant Directors, and 2 Managers. From the job titles listed on the web site, it was difficult to tell whether some positions were top-level or support staff. In fact, a person listed as “Risk Manager” on the web site was listed by Townend as “Director of Risk Management”. Whether Marvel is correct in concluding that Fillmore is top-heavy with school administrators is a matter for the School Board to determine, but her data is not inaccurate enough to damage her argument. CONTINUED »

Leo Contreras of Fillmore
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Scott Petuoglu of Fillmore
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Miguel Yepes of Fillmore
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unknown skater doing a nose grab.
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Zach Casas of Newbury Park
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Zander Gabriel of Ojai
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Twenty high school skateboard teams descended on the Fillmore Skate Park this past weekend to compete in region #1 of the National High School Skateboard Association competition. This is Fillmore’s 2nd event and they skated very well and placed 6th as a team. Skating for Fillmore was Nick Avila, Leo Contreras, Joey Liu, Scott Petuoglu, and Miguel Yepez. In the individual top 20 scores, Leo Contreras placed 6th, and Joey Liu placed 16th out of 90 skaters. Jeff Stern, Founder of NHSSA built the first ever organization to hold a season of skateboard competitions where high school skateboarders come together as a team to compete against other high schools. Forty teams are competing, with each team made up of 5 of the best skaters from each high school. There are two regions with 20 schools in each region. After three competitions in each region, the top 10 teams from each region will advance to the finals, hoping to win “best skate team” for the season. After the finals, the top 20 individual skaters will have the opportunity to compete at the X Games in a “best trick” contest. Mr. Stern, President of NHSSA, felt a need to get the sport of skateboarding recognized as a legitimate sport. He states, “The talent these kids have is incredible, and I don’t believe the parents or the community understand what it takes to get to the level some of these skateboarders have reached.” Find more information and standings at www.sk8nhssa.com.

The Fillmore Historical Museum is displaying vintage wedding dresses and photos from 1886 to the 1960s, 340 Main Street, Fillmore. Call for hours.
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Beginning on May 15, 2009, the Fillmore Historical Museum located at 340 Main St. in Fillmore will be displaying wedding dresses and photos from 1886 to the 1960s. The display includes a century-old hand crocheted wedding dress, a lovely dress made from a silk parachute, a dress worn by a mother and her daughter, and a 70 year old dress that is modern enough to be found on the fashion runways of today. Courtesy of Mathias Gonzalez, we include the Hispanic tradition of the father of the groom writing the father of the bride, asking for the bride’s hand in marriage. Pictures of the families and a copy of the letter, written in Spanish and translated into English are on display. We invite you to visit the museum and discover the joys of romance and marriage during the time period since Fillmore’s establishment until the mid 20th century.

The Museum has been fortunate that over the years local Fillmore residents have donated numerous of their family treasures to be displayed for all to see. This is your hometown museum dedicated to showing how Fillmore and its surrounding communities of Bardsdale, Sespe and Piru grew and developed.

The restored 1887 depot now is home to many railroad related photos and artifacts. There are tools used by the farming community, photos of the early days and a beautiful mural created by local artist, John Brothers, depicting Central Avenue about 1910. CONTINUED »

The Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board Meeting was held May 5, 2009. The audience was smaller than at previous meetings, but the teachers' union (FUTA) President Theresa Marvel attended, as did staff union (CSEA) Executive Board Member Sheila Duckett. The FUSD Board heard a report on the District-level English Learner Advisory Committee, approved the calendar for the 2009-2010 School year, approved a 3-year Technology Plan, and discussed a recent hearing regarding some of the layoffs.

The Board approved the school calendar for 2009-2010. The Board had two choices, and, after expressing regret over the 2nd Quarter ending after Winter Break, chose Calendar B to avoid having a short first semester and long second semester. School will start August 26th (avoiding conflict with this year's County Fair August 5th-16th), and end June 17, 2010. During the discussion, FUTA President Theresa Marvel and Assistant Superintendent Evalene Townend fervently disagreed on whether the calendar development process had differed from previous years' methods. They agreed that FUTA had submitted a list of prioritized elements to be incorporated into the calendar, but Marvel claimed that in past years the calendar had been developed at the negotiating table. Townend said that FUTA's and CSEA's requests had been incorporated to the best of her ability. Marvel said that more teachers disapproved of both choices than in previous years. CONTINUED »

Statement provided by Fillmore Teachers Association (FUTA)

The Fillmore Unified School District Board of Education is currently considering a set of budget reductions recommended by the District Administration to balance the budget deficit that the District currently faces due to the State fiscal crisis. When the Board first started meeting this year at special Budget Study Sessions to begin this process, it was the stated goal of both Board members and the District Administration to keep the necessary cuts as far from children and the classroom as possible. This goal made sense, inasmuch as it is the purpose of the School District is to educate the children of Fillmore, Piru and Bardsdale.

As the Budget Study Sessions got underway, a series of recommendations for cuts were made. Theresa Marvel, Fillmore High School teacher and President of the Fillmore Unified Teacher’s Association (FUTA), which represents the teachers and other certificated employees of the District, regularly attended these sessions and noted which cuts were being recommended. As the weeks passed, and the recommendations mounted, it became apparent to Ms. Marvel that in contrast to the stated goal of the Board and the District, the vast majority of the cuts being recommended directly impacted children and their education. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Enrique (Erick) Boelcke (DOB 08/17/44), formerly of Santa Monica, was sentenced to serve five years and four months in state prison for embezzling from his former employer, Santa Clara Organics.
An internet search shows a Fillmore PO Box for Boelcke.
On March 6, 2009, Boelcke pleaded guilty to three counts of felony grand theft. The matter was investigated by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
Boelcke worked for Santa Clara Organics in Santa Paula for approximately ten years. Eventually, the company entrusted him to run the day-to-day operations of the business, including bookkeeping tasks. In 2007, it was discovered that Boelcke had been stealing from the company since 2003. Boelcke stole cash and company checks. He also used company credit cards for personal gain and paid large amounts of company money to his ex-wife and his ex-wife's business. In total, Boelcke stole $556,995.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Bruce Clark ordered Boelcke to pay $556,995 in restitution to the victim. Property seized from the defendant's home, including cash, computers, electronics and cameras, was also ordered returned to the victim. Since Boelcke took full responsibility for the thefts and exonerated his ex-wife, Diana DeCastro, charges against DeCastro were dismissed.