FILLMORE : School Board to Consider Cutbacks

Fillmore school officials will hold a public hearing tonight to discuss a plan to trim $400,000 from the district’s $13-million budget without eliminating jobs.

A committee of administrators and faculty has proposed cutting a variety of supplemental academic programs and trimming funds for supplies and maintenance. The board of the Fillmore Unified School District is expected to adopt the budget tonight.

Among the items targeted for cuts are development of social studies curriculum, for a savings of $18,000, and an elementary counseling program called Special Friends, to be cut $9,000, according to a district report.

Small high school classes for Spanish-speaking students making the transition to all-English instruction would be consolidated into larger classes, saving $31,000.

The district could save an additional $22,000 by eliminating new purchases of equipment and furniture. Another $15,000 would be saved if the board of trustees agrees to cut all supplies for the high school pool, scale down the asbestos removal program and hire less extra clerical help.

District administrators and board members were at a retreat and unavailable for comment Monday. However, a budget summary indicated that the cuts were based on the assumption that a 1.5% increase in state funding for schools that was promised in January would probably be deleted from Sacramento’s final budget, due this month.

A reduced share of lottery money has also put the pinch on the Fillmore school district’s finances. For 1992-93 the district expects to receive $266,000, down from nearly $500,000 three years ago.

Wages would increase for those teachers whose years of service or education qualify them for a new salary level, but there would be no cost of living increases.