School Business Chief Ready to Learn

Ruben Frutos looks forward to using his skills at securing funds for schools in his new position at Los Alamitos Unified School District.

Frutos is holding the financial reins to a $57-million budget as the district’s business manager. And though he’s only been on the job for a little over a week, he’s eager to learn about federal impact funding, which benefits areas with military bases. The district has two bases within its boundaries--the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and the Armed Forces Reserve Center--and thus qualifies for funds to offset a loss of residential property taxes.

The San Diego native spent the last four years as the assistant superintendent of business services for the Calexico Unified School District. Before that, Frutos worked in the San Diego County Office of Education as a business assistant in facilities planning.

“This is a growth opportunity for me,” he said. “Los Alamitos looks like a very good school district.”

From a business point of view, the 36-year-old Frutos said dealing with the demographics at Los Alamitos will be interesting because it will entail looking at different sources for money. Imperial County schools benefited from funding aimed at lower-income schools. Students at Los Alamitos don’t qualify for many of the same programs, he said, because parents fall under a different and higher income bracket.

Before graduating from San Diego State, he lived in Tijuana because his parents wanted their children to be bilingual. Frutos earned a degree in psychology with a emphasis on statistics and also received a master’s degree in public administration with a public finance emphasis. Technology and statistics are his interests, he said.

He moved from El Centro recently and is living in Laguna Hills with his wife and 5-year-old daughter. He joked that the worst thing about commuting is merging onto the San Diego Freeway.

Frutos’ priority right now is to maintain fiscal stability in the district. Thanks to his predecessor, Ronald W. Murrey, the budget is in good shape, he said.

“The duty of the business manager is to be prudent, no matter what,” he said.

Ana Cholo-Tipton can be reached at (714) 966-5890.