The board will present Her’s contract to the public and officially name her superintendent at the April 30 board meeting, according to Fresno Unified spokesperson Nikki Henry.

Related Story: Trustees Select Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent. Was ‘the ...

Community Reacts to Misty Her’s Appointment

Members of the Hmong community came out to support the board, thanking them for supporting diversity.

The district reserved the first three rows of seats for Her’s family. While the board was not supposed to have made a decision at that point, Henry said they were preparing for what they believed was going to take place.

One member of the Hmong community, who said he was part of the first wave of refugees, thanked them for putting homegrown talent in a position of leadership. “I think you will be engaging in a very historical move,” he said.

Others, however, felt the district did not uphold its promise for a transparent process and did not, in earnest, look at outside candidates.

President of the Fresno Teachers Association Manuel Bonilla congratulated Her on the new position, saying her success would lift the district. But he said a supermajority of teachers in a recent poll said they’ve lost trust in the district because of the process. “It’s about a pattern of closed-door decisions,” Bonilla said.

Granville Homes President Darius Assemi said the district has for decades failed in terms of reading and writing. He cited statistics showing Black students testing below grade level in reading and math.

“I thought this was going to be different,” Assemi said. “I thought this was going to be a new day.”

(Disclosure: Darius Assemi is the publisher of GV Wire)

Related Story: Secret Search or Meet the Finalists? Debate Rages as Fresno Nears Its ...

Questions Arise About Board Transparency

After becoming a teacher and principal in Fresno, Her joined the district’s leadership in 2011 as instructional superintendent for school leadership, according to Fresno Unified. In 2021, she became deputy for former superintendent Bob Nelson, who left the position in July 2024.

Related Story: Fresno Unified Trustees Passed Over a National Superintendent of the Year

When a majority of board members wanted to limit the search to only internal candidates, the community — led by then Board President Susan Wittrup — strongly opposed the limited search process.

Her promised to reform the district, focusing on student attendance and outcomes.

The post Fresno Trustees Choose District Insider Misty Her for New Superintendent appeared first on GV Wire.

Roberts, alongside 30 student volunteers from Hoover High School’s Science Enrichment club, celebrated Earth Day by planting trees.

The students worked together from 12:30p.m. to 3p.m., placing five trees on Hoover’s campus.

“It’s pretty awesome that we all got to work as a team to do something that will benefit us for a long time,” said John Banuelos, a member of the Science Enrichment club.

The club also celebrated Earth Day by guiding students through planting wildflowers to take home.

Five valley oaks, a species endemic to California, were planted on Wednesday, a number the group hopes will grow.

How the Effort Came Together

Robert worked with Fresno Unified for close to a year to get the project underway.

The University High student pitched presentations to trustees, the site principal, and maintenance managers.

His presentation detailed the benefits of planting valley oaks and spreading environmental education.

“Over 90% of these trees (valley oaks) have been chopped down since the city’s founding, and I believe that we shouldn’t accept that for what it is,” Roberts said.

Roberts is working to restore planting sites and integrate valley oaks back into the community, aiming to plant trees at Free State next, he said.

He hopes that students will take pride in their campus and their contribution, while also cultivating an understanding of the importance of trees.

This project is an opportunity to begin doing just that.

“I think today went really smoothly,” said Favour Amobi, a senior at Hoover. “Everybody was working very hard. It was nice to see everything come together”

Why Plant Valley Oaks?

Valley oaks are native and exclusive to California making them best suited for its ecosystem.

The trees’ size and lifespan allow for a massive intake of carbon, efficiently converting CO2 into oxygen, while needing less water than grass.

Additionally, these trees house native species, so their removal caused “native ecosystems to start to vanish,” Roberts said.

Roberts hopes that bringing valley oaks back into the community will prompt more native species to return.

Two weeks prior to planting, a drilling company pierced through the site’s hardpan.

Drilling through the hardpan, a dense layer that water and roots cannot permeate, allows the tree to reach subsoil. This provides crucial water retention and essential resources for the plant.

Also, the tree’s roots will be able to grow down instead of out, ensuring that roots will not interfere with infrastructure or cause tripping hazards.

Environmental Education

Climate anxiety is rising amongst youth, but a lack of knowledge and education regarding the environment is prevalent.

That fear was shared by the students, who also reiterated a sense of responsibility.

“I think us, as a generation, need to make sure that we care about it (the climate),” Amobi said. “If we don’t care about it more then we’re going to lose our chance of being able to solve this. And that’s what I’m scared about.”

Despite widespread worries about climate change, a 2021 survey indicated that students ages 14 to 18 had large gaps between their conceptualization of Earth’s systems and reality.

“Here at school is one way to learn it and get the correct education about climate change, because it’s real,” said Aaliyah Miles, a junior at Hoover.

There are environmental science courses offered at Fresno Unified high schools, but the classes are not mandatory, the Hoover students said.

“I think it’s very important to emphasize how climate change is going to affect us. And how we can prevent that, even little steps within the community we can take to help,” Roberts said.

The post Fresno Students Celebrate Earth Day by Planting 5 Valley Oaks appeared first on GV Wire.

Assemi breaks down the importance of this role and the huge impact it has on the community.

The interim superintendent, Misty Her, is favored to take on the full-time position. However, others are pushing back and saying that the candidate should come externally.

FUSD is expected to make an announcement Wednesday night.

Related Story: Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is

The post Wired Wednesday: What’s the Future of Fresno Unified and the Superintendent Position? appeared first on GV Wire.

Fresno Unified Board President Valerie Davis previously told GV Wire they would likely select the new superintendent Wednesday. After GV Wire published the names of applicants Friday, district spokesperson Nikki Henry said those candidates were not finalists and that the board would announce the finalist or finalists Wednesday.

In addition, GV Wire reported last week based on interviews with multiple sources that interim Superintendent Misty Her will succeed Bob Nelson as superintendent.

However, one thing is clear: Board members will not conduct a public forum of the top candidates even though community members and leaders are calling for that very thing.

Many executive search firms say getting good school superintendents requires keeping the names of candidates, sometimes even finalists, confidential.

Diego Arambula, vice chair of the CSU Board of Trustees and vice president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, has done numerous superintendent searches. He wasn’t surprised that the board decided to keep the search closed.

“Most districts that I’ve had a chance to watch go through this have had a closed search because otherwise they just fear they’re going to get no great external candidates,” Arambula said. “You either find someone who’s either currently out of a job and so isn’t worried about it, or you just lose people who might be great candidates.”

But community leaders say an open search process is essential given the board’s past desire to keep the superintendent search behind closed doors.

Retired Fresno County Judge Robert Oliver has served on several selection committees, including the search for a Fresno State president. He described the process as “unclear and confusing.” He said the public should be able to expect a thorough search with a list of finalists.

“We’re just looking for a selection of a person who hopefully will bring a new life and a new day to the unified school district challenge,” Oliver said. “This is a 74,000-or-so student, 10,000-or-so employee organization. I think it’s fair to say, without being overly critical, that the current leadership has not succeeded in making the necessary change to improve the standing of the students in the district.”

Related Story: Trustees Select Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent. Was ‘the ...

Community Didn’t Ask For an Open Forum: FUSD

In Texas, most districts don’t share names until they’ve found a lone finalist, said Susan Enfield, former superintendent of Washoe County School District in Reno and current executive director of The Network of Distinguished Educators.

Washington State districts typically release the names of the final two or three candidates once trustees have decided.

“Confidentiality is quite common as part of the search process for superintendents— mainly because sometimes those individuals applying are sitting leaders. That said, the process varies from district to district and state to state,” Enfield said.

In Texas, most districts don’t share names until they’ve found a lone finalist, Enfield said. Washington State districts typically release the names of the final two or three candidates once trustees have decided.

However, more and more, districts are opening up their search processes, including open forums with finalists. So much so that every one of the outside finalists applying to become Fresno Unified’s new superintendent has participated in one elsewhere — either taking questions from board members or from the community before getting the job.

Henry said the public had a chance to ask for a public forum but never did.

“The board brought the superintendent search timeline to open session for comment and feedback multiple times,” Henry said. “This was never brought about as a request by the public. The board will stick to the search plans they transparently voted on in open session.”

But the record shows that Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla talked about the importance of open search — including an open forum — several times going back at least to April 2024. That’s when a majority of trustees wanted to keep the search internal.

Many community leaders GV Wire spoke with say that with Fresno Unified’s failing student outcomes an open search is essential. Bonilla said it gives the public confidence that their choice was indeed the best.

“(Trustees) had an opportunity to regain trust in the community and to their employees by going through a very transparent process,” Bonilla said. “Because they didn’t, now it leaves a lingering process and it leaves a lingering doubt in the selection of Misty (Her). And that’s not fair to her, it’s not fair to the district, to its employees.”

Open Forum Best Serves the Community: District Employees

Bonilla wrote in an email to trustees on behalf of Fresno Teachers Association in April 2024 that by not being transparent and inclusive, the board opens the door to accusations of backroom deals and political maneuvering.

“They must commit to opening the search to all qualified applicants and provide a public forum for finalists to present their vision for our district,” Bonilla wrote.

During public meetings that year, multiple community members, including Bonilla, called on trustees to conduct an open forum. Those calls came with applause from the crowd.

“You have to have a process, and a process where those people that are going to be the top two, top three, come back to the community and meet with us and answer some difficult questions. The same problems come up over and over,” said community activist Gloria Hernandez on April 3, 2024.

Employees with Fresno Unified in an question-and-answer forum specifically asked for a community forum. One said the board can’t hide behind confidentiality and then say they’re being transparent.

Henry told them trustees chose not to do a public forum because it could scare away candidates.

“We decided to prioritize a confidential hiring process to ensure we received the most highly qualified candidates out there,” Henry wrote in that email. “Many potential candidates would be current superintendents or executives at other school districts who might not consider applying for the job if there were a public town hall before they were hired.”

All of District’s Outside Finalists Did Public Forums Previously

In 2022, when Calvert County Public Schools in Maryland held its superintendent search, the district held community meetings where the public could hear from candidates directly, ABC 7 reported. That included its current superintendent, Andraé Townsel, who is applying to be Fresno Unified’s superintendent.

Townsel earlier this year also participated in an open forum in Milwaukee Public Schools, according to ABC News WISN.

In December 2024, current Fresno Unified superintendent candidate Thomas Ahart took part in “a marathon of public forums,” according to the Albuquerque Journal. Ahart is a former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, where he served for more than 10 years.

Gustavo Balderas answered questions from the public when he applied to be the superintendent in Oregon’s Edmonds School District in 2020, according to community news site MLT News.

San Diego Unified — the state’s second largest district — took a transparent approach when it searched for a superintendent in 2021-2022. The school board created an advisory committee that held open meetings. The names of the finalists were publicly released, and the district hosted a town hall at which the community could ask questions.

And State Center Community College District trustees recently chose to use an open search process when selecting a new president of Fresno City College. The same approach was used in 2022 after college president Carole Goldsmith was elevated to district chancellor.

Both Clovis Unified and Central Unified held closed searches. Central Unified may do an open search in its upcoming superintendent search, said board trustee Naindeep Singh Chann.

Long Beach Unified, a district very similar to Fresno, kept its search internal. Arambula said the public was largely OK with that because that district has been successful in advancing student outcomes. Arambula said Fresno Unified is not at a place where it could justify keeping its search internal.

“I don’t think anyone can or should look at the results in Fresno Unified and say ‘we’re knocking it out of the park,'” Arambula said. “We have a long way to go to get to really serving our students in the way they truly deserve.”

A Good Search Firm Should Bring Strong Candidates: Arambula

Large districts such as San Diego or Miami have their own pull, Arambula said. Fresno, however, with its billion-dollar budget and 71,000 students, should draw out quality candidates.

“Fresno Unified should be a really attractive position to many internal and external candidates,” Arambula said. “There are huge opportunities for growth because they haven’t yet cracked the code on academic achievement. There is strong funding with the Local Control Funding Formula. Fresno is a great city; very livable. A good search firm could really pitch this place to build a great pool of candidates”

But given Fresno Unified’s challenges, they need a superintendent who will stay a long time and not use the district as a “waystop.”

In addition, trustees shouldn’t discount candidates based on the size of their previous districts, Arambula said.

Davis previously told GV Wire that “size and success matters.” Two of Fresno Unified’s candidates come from districts exceeding 30,000 students. To Arambula, districts at that size have the same level of complexity.

“It’s roughly the same amount of complexity, you’re still managing through multiple layers, you still have dozens of schools,” Arambula said.

‘Profound and Dramatic Improvements Are Required At All Levels’: FUSD Board Policy

Fresno Unified’s first board policy says “profound and dramatic improvements are required at all levels of the Fresno Unified School District.” Oliver said the board has not followed through on this.

The district consistently ranks toward the bottom for reading and math in California and nationwide, according to education data.

“By definition, if they are needing to make dramatic and substantial change for improvement, you would be well advised to look outside of the C-suite that has been unable to enact that substantial and necessary platform for improvement,” Oliver said.

GV Wire Senior Reporter David Taub contributed to this story.

The post Secret Search or Meet the Finalists? Debate Rages as Fresno Nears Its Superintendent Pick appeared first on GV Wire.

The only way that happens is when we force Fresno Unified to finally get its act together and provide our community’s children with the quality of education they need and deserve.

Sadly, Fresno Unified — which has some of the nation’s worst test scores, especially for black and brown kids — is up to its old tricks. Not only did the trustees shroud a promised national search for a new superintendent in secrecy, but they’re also ready to promote an insider, Misty Her, to the top job.

There are no rational reasons for this appointment other than politics and an insidious need to protect the district’s bloated bureaucracy. I understand why a board would want to keep an insider: you can control that person much easier, and you know they won’t be replacing the existing executive staff that trustees have established relationships with.

To our community’s shame, the trustees are passing on three highly qualified outside candidates with proven records of success as superintendents. One was the 2020 National Superintendent of the Year.

Related Story: The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

How Much Longer Must Fresno’s Children Wait?

How much longer are we going to sacrifice our children’s and our community’s future on the altar of political ambition by trustees like Keshia Thomas and Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, both city council seekers?

How much longer are we going to bow to the highly paid Fresno Unified bureaucrats who fear an outsider will show them to the door because of their incompetence and indifference?

Misty Her has been the interim superintendent for a year without moving the needle on student learning or improving chaotic operations. The district remains mired in special ed challenges, an abundance of litigation, and a culture of retaliation.

In addition, she long has been part of the district’s failing team. It is very difficult and costly, not to mention disruptive for students, to remove a superintendent. Bob Nelson was superintendent for eight years with no demonstrable improvement in outcomes and would still be there today if he had not accepted a teaching position at Fresno State.

Related Story: Trustees Select Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent. Was ‘the ...

We need a leader with the expertise and backbone to do right by students. I am not sure Misty Her wants to be that person, because if she did, she would have already made many changes to her cabinet and the hiring process.

Central Unified recently let its superintendent go and brought in a proven winner, Eimear O’Brien, as the interim. In just one month, she is setting high standards and making sure that every employee does their job with urgency and in the best interests of students!

I’ll wrap up with a call to action: Show up at the Fresno Unified board meeting downtown on Wednesday at 4:30 pm and voice your opinion. If you can’t attend, email the trustees with your thoughts.

Let’s not sentence Fresno’s next generation to lives of poverty and despair, as we have done so many times before.

 

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(Video: FTA President Manuel Bonilla sharing his insights on the superintendent search and FTA’s offer to host a public forum featuring the final candidates.)

About the Author

Darius Assemi of Fresno is a builder and philanthropist. He is the president/CEO of Granville Homes and publisher of the award-winning GV Wire.

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GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to bmcewen@gvwire.com for consideration.

The post Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours appeared first on GV Wire.

Related Story: Why Fresno Unified Tried to Keep Superintendent Search Secret

Fresno Unified, the state’s third-largest school district, has been without a full-time superintendent since May 2024, when Bob Nelson gave his farewell speech at a board meeting. He had announced months earlier he would step down to take a job with Fresno State.

The school board later named deputy superintendent Misty Her as the interim, and she is reportedly a top contender for the full-time job.

Related Story: Trustees Select Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent. Was ‘the ...

Wednesday’s board agenda includes an item under “public employment/appointment” regarding the “superintendent search.” The closed-session item is set to start at 4:30 p.m. at the district office (2309 Tulare Street in downtown Fresno).

The FUSD board hired executive recruiting firm McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, to recruit and present candidates under a $34,000 contract approved in February. Firm consultant Ben Johnson II told GV Wire last week that all seven trustees, and members of a community panel, signed the non-disclosure document.

Several members of the school board said they signed to protect the confidentiality of the search. Neither the members, the firm, nor the district immediately provided a copy of the document. However, a source provided an unsigned version.

It is unclear if this is a version the school board members signed, the community panel signed, or if there is a difference.

“The Committee Member and the District are engaged in a process for selection of a superintendent for the District. As such both Committee Member and District will have access to the confidential application materials and information which has protection from disclosure pursuant to State law, including (add a state statute if applicable),” an unsigned version of the document stated.

“No legal advisory was necessary for the district in this case as these documents were signed by individuals to the search firm, not signed by the district or for the district,” Fresno Unified spokesperson Nikki Henry said.

A Public Records Act request with the school district for a signed version of the document remains pending.

What the Agreement Says

The two-page, five-paragraph confidentiality agreement said the applicant name is among the confidential information not to be shared.

The document also allows sharing of information to “other Committee Members, or to such individual District staff for third-party consultant(s) that the District and the Committee identify as assisting the committee in its process.”

Committee members shall not discuss aspects of the search with others, the document said, including conducting their own interviews and/or investigations.

“The Committee Member and the District expressly agree that failure to maintain confidentiality pursuant to this agreement is a material breach with irreparable damages that may be remedied by an award of damages, an injunction, and other award deemed equitable by a Court of competent jurisdiction,” the agreement said.

“Further, if the Committee Member is an employee of the District she or he is on notice that breach of confidentiality can and may result in disciplinary consequences,” the document said.

The elected board trustees are not considered district employees, Henry said.

“All members who signed the confidentiality agreement are aware of how recourse may be taken if a breach of confidentiality happened,” Henry said.

Community Panel Members Remain a Mystery

The district has refused to share the names of the community panel members.

“The Community Advisory Panel was discussed in closed session by the board on March 26 and April 3 and the panel’s role was to give feedback directly to the search firm, not directly to the board. Each Trustee was able to suggest one community member to join the search firm’s Community Advisory Panel. We will not be releasing the names of the community advisory panel to respect the confidential process,” Henry said.

David Loy, legal director with the First Amendment Coalition, said holding such discussions in closed session is improper. While discussions about specific candidates may be OK, talking about the search process itself is not, Loy said.

“If they created a community advisory panel, that should have been a separate agenda item and that should’ve been done an open session,” Loy said. “The board should not be refusing to disclose the names.”

Loy said the panel itself should be covered by the state’s open meeting laws, the Brown Act.

Board members Susan Wittrup, Keshia Thomas and Valerie Davis declined to name their appointee, citing the confidentiality agreement. Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas also declined to speak. Other board members did not respond to requests for comment.

The post The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See appeared first on GV Wire.

The main reason, several board members and the consultant firm the board hired said, is to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the process.

However, some school districts require their superintendents to inform them if they’ve become a finalist or even applied for another job. Thus, leaks sometimes happen even when the goal is confidentiality. For example former Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson had such as a clause in his contract.

GV Wire’s Edward Smith reports the finalists are interim Superintendent Misty Her; Thomas Ahart, a former superintendent in Des Moines, Iowa; Gustavo Balderas, superintendent at the Beaverton (Oregon) School District, and former Madera Unified superintendent; and Calvert County (Maryland) Superintendent Andraé Townsel.

Even the NDA is subject to nondisclosure. Neither the firm McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, the school district, nor several board members were willing to immediately share the document. A California Public Records Act inquiry is pending.

School board president Valerie Davis referred GV Wire to McPherson & Jacobson for a copy of the NDA. The firm’s consultant, Ben Johnson II, said he would have to check with the firm’s CEO.

“I don’t know what I can’t disclose,” said Davis, who signed the NDA. “It’s confidential because it’s people’s lives, people’s jobs. Maybe the other superintendents haven’t told their board that they’re looking for a job or maybe it’s personal, personnel type of thing, OK? It has to do with employment law,” Davis said.

Seven members of a community advisory panel who met with the finalists also signed the NDA.

Related Story: Fresno Unified Trustees Passed Over a National Superintendent of the Year

Board Talks About NDA

Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas said she signed the NDA this month, but was unsure what she could disclose about the document itself.

She said the board chose to keep the process closed.

“Some candidates may not want to apply because they don’t want their name out there. They’re currently employed, so it might limit the pool of candidates. And so, the search that we conducted was not an open search. So therefore, confidentiality was to be respected,” Jonasson Rosas said.

“We wanted to get the maximum number of qualified candidates.”

Last year, Trustee Susan Wittrup criticized the superintendent search process. The board delayed the search, opening it nationwide.

While she signed the NDA, she wishes there was more transparency.

“I wish the candidates would become public. I wish the community could see who our candidates are, who applied, and what their qualifications are,” Wittrup said.

Trustee Andy Levine spoke to GV Wire, but said he was not willing to talk about the search or signing the NDA.

“We’re still in the middle of this process. And so, when we have an announcement to make, I’m sure we’ll speak to some of those details,” Levine said.

Trustees Claudia Cazarez, Veva Islas and Keshia Thomas did not respond to GV Wire’s questions.

“We have all signed a nondisclosure agreement and anyone who has leaked this story is fully in violation. Quite frankly, there’s some other pieces to this story, and that we’ve begun to negotiate and so on and so forth. And that is absolutely not true,” Thomas told Alexan Balekian on his “Sunday Conversation” show on April 13.

Davis, Islas and Wittrup also served on the board search committee.

Search Firm: Leak ‘Lacks Integrity’

The board contracted with McPherson & Jacobson in February for $34,500 to find the next superintendent. The trustees ultimately vote on the hiring.

“Candidates put their career on the line by interviewing,” Johnson said. “An open search would reduce the quality of candidates you would get.”

He said that transparency and the nature of the search are up to the board, not the search firm.

Johnson was not happy that information about the candidates leaked.

“I’m beyond frustrated … the process has been violated. It lacks integrity,” Johnson said. “Someone lied. Someone signed the document and didn’t maintain that.”

Johnson is concerned that the leak might affect future superintendent searches.

“Someone made that worse. I can’t tell other districts nothing has leaked before,” Johnson said.

While some school districts around the country make finalists known to the public, Johnson said open searches in California are uncommon.

The post Why Fresno Unified Tried to Keep Superintendent Search Secret appeared first on GV Wire.

In 2020, the American Association of School Administrators named Gustavo Balderas as the national superintendent of the year for his work with Eugene School District. That year, he also won Oregon Superintendent of the Year. Balderas’ first superintendent position was with the San Joaquin Valley’s Madera Unified.

Balderas did not respond to a request for comment from GV Wire.

In 2020, Balderas participated in an open candidate forum when he applied to become superintendent of Oregon’s Edmonds School District. He said in that forum that he prided himself on increasing graduation rates of Latino students and students in poverty.

Graduation rates for Latino students and children in poverty increased by 19% and 23% for students in special programs during his tenure.

“The one thing that I’m really proud of is the work that we’ve done in Eugene the last few years,” Balderas said, according to Washington news site MLT News. “We been able to close the opportunity gap. Our graduation rates have increased by 14 percentage points because of the systems we’ve put in.”

Related Story: Trustees Select Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent. Was ‘the ...

Trustees Prioritizing Candidates from Large Districts

GV Wire learned the names of the four finalists — including Balderas and Fresno Unified interim superintendent Misty Her — in the district’s superintendent search. The others were Thomas Ahart, a former longtime superintendent of Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools, and Andraé Townsel, superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools in Maryland.

Multiple sources confirmed to GV Wire that trustees have begun negotiations to hire Her. However, Fresno Unified spokesperson Nikki Henry rebutted that, saying that a selection cannot be made until the board takes action via a vote. Henry also said it was inaccurate to call anyone a “finalist.”

And, trustee Keshia Thomas said on Alexan Balekian’s “Sunday Conversation” on KMJ radio that there were no negotiations with Her “at the moment.”

In that same appearance, Thomas acknowledged the district’s academic failures, saying “We have not been student driven. We have not been outcomes driven. We’ve been messy, and that’s the real truth.”

Editor’s Note: In the chart below showing academic achievement for students in the finalists’ districts, the year 2019 was chosen because those results reflect performance before the COVID pandemic, which resulted in learning loss across the country. The 2024 results are the latest available. 

Fresno Unified board president Valerie Davis said the decision on the next superintendent would likely be announced at trustees meeting on Wednesday, April 23. She said in an email to GV Wire they are prioritizing candidates from large school districts. Davis did not respond to follow-up questions.

“Leading the third largest district in the state requires someone who has worked successfully in a very large district,” Davis wrote in the email. “For everything that has been coming out of your GV Wire, I don’t think anyone has ever thought of the most obvious qualification. Size and success matters.”

Board members and community members previously stated they want someone who understands the diversity of the Central Valley.

There is no salary range listed in job posting for FUSD’s superintendent, but Nelson made $426,757 in pay and $99,066 in benefits in 2023, according to Transparent California.

Related Story: Why Fresno Unified Tried to Keep Superintendent Search Secret

Trustees Want Confidentiality. Others Seek Transparency

Board members and district administration stressed confidentiality of applicants despite search firm McPherson & Jacobson LLC telling board members on Feb. 12 that once candidates are finalists “there’s no holding back.”

“Once you’re a finalist, there’s no holding back,” Ben Johnson, spokesperson for McPherson told the board in that meeting. “You’ve put yourself out there, you’ve said you’ve got to be able to contact all people to be able to give an assessment, good and deserving about your candidacy.”

However, Johnson recently told GV Wire that the finalists’ names shouldn’t have become public.

Of note: Fresno Unified required former Superintendent Bob Nelson to disclose if he ever became a finalist for employment outside the district.

Community members and Fresno Unified employees have called for an open forum since it was announced the district needed a replacement for Nelson, who retired last summer.

In a districtwide notice to employees, one teacher said a community forum would ensure transparency.

“Respectfully, the board can’t hide behind ‘confidentiality’ in the process and then say they’re being transparent and ensuring the community’s concerns have been brought into consideration,” one teacher said on FUSD’s forum board. “How are we supposed to believe that? There’s no accountability.”

National Superintendent of the Year Is Son Of Mexican Immigrants

Balderas is the current superintendent for Beaverton School District, which enrolls 37,459 students across 54 schools in a Portland suburb.

The first-generation son of Mexican immigrants, Balderas often emphasizes learning for students in poverty, especially those overcoming language barriers, according to news articles and podcasts.

“I understand firsthand some of the barriers that students face in Beaverton schools — those in poverty and those navigating a new language and culture. These experiences will help me connect with students and families and help identify ways to meet the needs of our students furthest from educational justice,” Balderas told KGW8 in 2022, when he was selected for the superintendent at Beaverton.

Balderas was superintendent at Madera Unified from 2011 to 2013.

Since 2011, he has been superintendent of five school districts.

Iowa Superintendent Focuses on Equity, Balanced Budget

Former superintendent Thomas Ahart spent 14 years at Des Moines Public Schools, which is Iowa’s largest school district and had 31,000 students at the time. He served as superintendent for 10 years.

The Des Moines Register reported that the Des Moines school board decided not to extend his contract past 2023. Ahart left one year ahead of his contract end date.

Ahart did not respond to a request for comment.

In his letter of resignation, Ahart stressed his focus on equity. About 76% of students at Des Moines schools receive free or reduced lunch. Students there speak 83 languages and come from 109 nations, he said.

“We implemented standards-based grading, redrew district boundaries, made every school a school of choice, increased enrollment in Advanced Placement courses, and dramatically shifted the composition of the student body attending Central Campus and Central Academy,” Ahart said in his letter.

In his tenure, all of the district’s 40 portable classrooms became permanent, he pointed out in his letter. He also kept the district’s budget balanced.

Ahart has been a consultant with the Council on Great City Schools for the past 10 years, focusing on improving student outcomes. Fresno Unified is a member of Great City Schools, which brings together 78 of nation’s largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to the improvement of education for children in the inner cities. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Calvert County Public Schools Has Highest Literacy Rate in Maryland

Another finalist for FUSD’s top position, Andraé Townsel, started as superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools in Maryland in July 2022. Townsel recently applied for superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, where he was a finalist.

In a public forum, the Howard University graduate talked about his literacy plans and how Calvert County — enrolling 15,461 students — has the highest literacy scores in the state, according to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Townsel said the district achieved that rate because of “attention to detail and investment in the science of reading.”

In contrast, Fresno Unified is significantly behind other Valley and California school districts in literacy, as well as math.

Fresno Unified Interim Focuses on Attendance, Narrows Goals

Whereas Fresno Unified had nearly 170 educational goals last year, Her — the only finalist who hasn’t been a superintendent — told GV Wire said she wanted to focus on four major goals.

“We have to be great at a few things. And I think what the board has allowed us to do for the first time in Fresno Unified is to go from very big to now, very narrow,” said Her.

Here is a look at the district four major initiatives:

— 1st-graders proficient in literacy will increase from 48% in June 2024 to 80% by June 2030.

— Students graduating from high school college and career-ready will rise from 43% in June 2024 to 64% by June 2030.

— 3rd- through 8th-grade students more than one year behind in English Language Arts and who make more than one year’s growth will increase from 10% in June 2024 to 50% by June 2030.

— The district will track 6th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students for Portrait of a Learner competencies with a percentage goal set soon for June 2030.

Before being appointed interim superintendent, Her served as deputy superintendent for Nelson.

As interim leader, she has taken steps to reduce the number of students who are chronically absent. Students who are chronically absent struggle to learn, and their repeated absences result in the loss of state funding.

Related Story: Has Fresno Unified Finally Planted the Flag for an Academic Revolution?

“We have to be great at a few things. And I think what the board has allowed us to do for the first time in Fresno Unified is to go from very big to now, very narrow,” said Her.

The post Fresno Unified Trustees Passed Over a National Superintendent of the Year appeared first on GV Wire.

The board agenda includes a contract with a new special education transportation service, Zūm Services Inc.

Currently, the district contracts First Student Inc., which employs 250 drivers and operates buses for special ed students.

Fresno Unified contracted First Student in 2016 and later extended the contract in 2021 to last until 2026.

For months, First Student bus drivers have addressed the school board, seeking support and job protection. Drivers also feared how this change might affect students.

Zūm will offer employment to all drivers in good standing and “retain their seniority and receive competitive wages along with a five-hour daily work guarantee” Fresno Unified Board Communication documents show.

Zūm engaged with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521 to negotiate the agreement.

The district advertised a request for bus service proposals in November and early December.

A panel comprised from the Fresno Unified Transportation Department and Special Education Department evaluated the proposals.

The panel recommended Zūm, which is based in Redwood City.

The contract would begin Aug. 1, 2026, and cover five years with an option to renew for another five years.

The estimated annual cost is $16.7 million, according to the board agenda.

Related Story: 250 Fresno Unified Bus Driver Jobs at Risk, Teachers Fear 12% Pay Cuts

More About Zūm Bus Services

Zūm is a woman-led company serving more than 4,000 schools with an .001% accident rate and no bus driver shortages.

The service provides door-to-door transportation in modern air-conditioned buses with advanced safety features.

Additionally, Zūm has a parent and administrator app, designed to enhance communication.

The app allows users to monitor routes, receive notice of delays or changes, and ensure transparency in operations.

“I have closely worked with the Zūm team over the last five years and have observed first-hand the benefit of their robust operations, technology-enabled transparency and data driven reporting. This is the new era of student transportation,” said Kim Raney, executive director of transportation for Oakland Unified School District.

Allegations Against First Student

In December, SEIU held a protest, in which allegations of wage theft and sexual harassment were brought against First Student.

Union spokesperson Victor Gamiz previously told GV Wire that the wage theft allegations include requirements to clock out when completing paperwork and cleaning buses.

Monica Apodaca, a bus driver, publicly said she was sexually harassed, then demoted, and given a negative evaluation when she complained.

“Our own safety is not a priority for First Student management,” Apodaca said, during the protest. “Management of First Student needs to listen to our concerns and take them seriously.”

Community leaders, including trustee Veva Islas and Fresno City Councilmember Tyler Maxwell, spoke at the protest.

Related Story: Bus Drivers Accuse Fresno Unified Special Needs Contractor of Sexual ...

The post Fresno Unified’s Likely New Special Ed Bus Contractor Will Keep Current Employees appeared first on GV Wire.

Money is at the heart of the ongoing dispute about the program that provides extended-day learning for students at 40 schools.

The district says it is critical to cut costs due to declining enrollment and low average daily attendance. The Designated Schools Program’s $30 million price tag is one money-saving area.

“We need to save some to deal with the budget cuts we’re facing,” said Nikki Henry, Fresno Unified’s chief communications officer.

In addition to the expense of paying teachers additional wages for their longer day, Fresno Unified says an analysis of the program indicated that it hasn’t produced sufficient academic gains.

However, Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla says that dropping Designated Schools amounts to a salary cut for teachers at a time when the district should prioritize investing in them.

Arbitrator Sides With District

The ongoing dispute went to an arbitrator in December, who ruled in the district’s favor.

Since then, the two sides have been arguing over how to carry out the program’s elimination.

FTA and Fresno Unified are on the same page on how to ease the negative effects of the program’s loss: adding extra meeting days, teacher raises, expanding after school programs, and adding extra money for supplies.

However, they are on very different pages regarding the amount of money put toward each of these areas.

Bonilla says the district can move money from other areas of the budget and must prioritize investing in teachers. Major areas of concern for the FTA include district money spent on “Professional/Consulting Services and Operating Expenditures” and the amount of funding held in reserve.

The district must hold back some money because of budget constraints Henry counters.

Related Story: Will Fresno Unified Cut Instruction Hours at Some Schools to Balance Budget?

Instruction Time is Missing

While FTA has also cited a loss of important student learning time for those who need it most, none of its counter proposals addressed keeping the additional 30 minutes of instructional time offered via the program.

“They (FTA) could have proposed any number of things,” Henry said. “Instead of saying ‘we want a salary increase for everyone at a certain level,’ they could have said ‘we want to keep the instructional minutes’ or negotiate around schools they wanted to keep minutes at.”

Bonilla said the FTA is respecting the arbitration by not including instructional time in their proposal.

“If they were respecting the arbitration, they would’ve taken it as a binding agreement and wouldn’t have turned this into a public media fight,” Henry said.

FTA organized two protests over the program’s elimination. The most recent demonstration at a school board meeting produced an overflow of teachers and parents.

Related Story: 250 Fresno Unified Bus Driver Jobs at Risk, Teachers Fear 12% Pay Cuts

One way to mitigate lost instruction time is to expand after-school programs.

FTA is pushing for after-school and intervention programs led by certified teachers; the district often has classified staff and community partners running these programs.

‘Classrooms Over Consultants’ 

Still, money remains at the heart of the dispute.

FTA said that there is money spent elsewhere that can be put into teachers and the classroom.

The district pushed back against the idea that they aren’t investing in teachers.

“Our teachers are some of the highest paid and benefited teachers in this valley and we are focused on investing in our kids, in our teachers, and in our classrooms every day,” Henry said.

The FTA has criticized the district’s allocation of $110 million to “Professional/Consulting Services and Operating Expenditures.”

“This claim of ‘classrooms over consultants’ is a nice slogan but really doesn’t have a lot of substance or meat behind it when most of that $110 million is going directly into the classroom,” Henry said.

For example, the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program grant funding from California, designated for after-school programs, is restricted funding included in these expenditures Henry said.

At a previous board meeting, the district handed out a paper breaking down where “Professional/Consulting Services and Operating Expenditures” money is being spent.

That prompted Bonilla to tell supporters to rip the paper in half, which Henry characterized as dismissing the facts.

When asked about the paper showing money going into classroom services, Bonilla said, “We (the FTA) didn’t say all consultants were bad.”

At a previous protest, Bonilla turned all questions regarding consultants over to the teachers.

After being prompted by Bonilla to respond to what impact consultants have made, the group yelled, “None.”

Related Story: Fresno Unified Faces Teacher Uproar Over Slashing Designated Schools

The Designated Schools Battle Through the Years

Fresno Unified and the FTA have switched positions in their long-standing arguments around the Designated Schools Program.

During the last negotiation cycle, the district pushed to expand designated schools by 26 sites, Bonilla said.

A year later, the district notified the FTA of their plan to slash the program citing poor academic return on investment.

Bonilla questions how the district can change their position so quickly, including its stance on benefits of the program.

The district’s response: “It’s the same question reversed.”

“After nearly 10 years of FTA advocating against designated schools, we did not expect for them to flip their position and come so hard against us now, easing it out,” Henry said.

Bonilla denied this in a previous interview saying, “What we (the FTA) were saying is that you cannot say that there is one silver bullet. In designated schools, you still need good leadership. You still need support.”

During a 2023 bargaining session, Bonilla questioned the benefits of additional instruction time and requested metrics showing results.

“I hear, very loud and clear, that the district has an interest to increase the instructional minutes. I guess my question is: why? What’s the rationale? Other than ‘we think that it will help our students.’”

Now, Bonilla challenges that the program is not producing results, and said the district is using old data.

The district cited Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test results as evidence that Designated Schools isn’t working.

The district took a closer look at the program, did not see academic returns, and heard from the FTA that they did not want this program, Henry said.

“I think it’s a bit of a perfect storm of why the decision happened now.”

The post Money, Not Instruction Time, Is at Heart of Designated Schools Negotiations appeared first on GV Wire.