School Construction Will Be Discussed

With steadily rising enrollment causing a space crunch at Fillmore schools, the district’s board today is scheduled to discuss how it will pay to complete construction of the middle school.

The construction project is one of 11 recommendations contained in a long-range planning document. A year in the making, the report is a detailed analysis of the district’s capital-improvement needs extending into the next century.

“We expect by the year 2000 to be up above 4,000 kids,” Supt. Mario Contini said. “If we can’t get some buildings done, we’re expecting to see some pretty serious problems in the next couple of years with regard to classroom need.”

The 3,500-student district expects to grow by another 100 youngsters in the next school year alone and already faces the possibility of turning science and computer labs into classrooms at some schools to handle the influx, Contini said.

Fillmore Unified School District trustees recently gave the go-ahead to a four-classroom annex costing about $720,000 at the middle school to alleviate crowding.

The district will take out a loan to pay for that construction.

But the committee is recommending that a school bond measure be placed on the ballot by March 1997 to pay for further additions to the middle school, which will have to be completed by 1998 to handle the expected influx of students.

Other methods of handling growth that will be considered today include scheduling vacations for some students and staff while others are in school, and building a new elementary school shortly after the turn of the century.

A large crowd is expected at the joint meeting between the board and City Council. It is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Fillmore Middle School technology building, 543 A St.