FILLMORE : Bids Sought for New Middle School

Fillmore Unified School District advertised for bids Thursday to build a scaled-down middle school.

Supt. Marlene Davis said the district recently received state approval to build a gymnasium and pavilion for junior high school students on property west of A Street near First Street.

Classrooms, a library and offices were included in the original plans, but the district has been unable to obtain funding for the entire project.

Former Fillmore Junior High Principal Mario Contini, now assistant superintendent of educational services, said the district’s plan to combine sixth grade with the current seventh-and eighth-grade junior high and move the students to a new campus would have relieved overcrowding throughout the district.

While the modified project will improve the athletic facilities, it will not reduce the number of students per classroom, he said.

“We’re going to have to find a way to build the full school,” Contini said. “We’re already bursting at the seams.”

In 1987, Fillmore voters approved a $5-million bond issue for the construction of a middle school. Davis said state funds were expected to make up the difference between the project’s cost and the bond money. When it became apparent that no state funds would be available, the district tried to pass a second bond issue for an additional $8 million, which voters rejected in 1989.

“At this point, we’ve decided to build as much as we can with the money we have available,” Davis said.

Davis declined to speculate when construction might begin, but estimated that the gymnasium and pavilion/eating area would take about a year to build.