Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Superintendent Looks to Shake Up Roles to Boost Fresno Student Performance
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 4 years ago on
November 18, 2020

Share

Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson wants to put even more focus on improving students’ academic performance by restructuring one of the district’s top jobs and reorganizing the functions of others.

A proposal on Wednesday’s School Board agenda would redefine the duties of the deputy superintendent and chief financial officer positions. Both were formerly held by Ruth Quinto, who resigned in September.

“If I’m ever going to get Fresno Unified to a place where people really value it deeply as an educational institution, we have to keep making more than just gradual progress on the academic side.” — FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson

Under the proposal, the deputy superintendent would be an academic second-in-command to Nelson and would focus in particular on the student populations — English language learners, special education, historically disadvantaged, foster and homeless — that have struggled the most in academic achievement.

The restructure will mean “having another person that’s focused constantly on making sure our kids are successful academically,” he told GV Wire℠ this week. “If I’m ever going to get Fresno Unified to a place where people really value it deeply as an educational institution, we have to keep making more than just gradual progress on the academic side.”

Taking a Cue from Clovis Unified

Nelson said he believes he has the support of the School Board, which has been encouraging him for several years to have a deputy superintendent focused on academics who can help co-lead the district.

It has worked successfully in Clovis Unified, he said.

“There’s a model that Clovis has used where Don Ulrich and now Norm (Anderson) have served as a deputy to Superintendent (Eimear) O’Farrell, and that has functioned well for them,” he said. “And I think it’s not a bad methodology to follow. So we’re going to try it and see if it makes it easier.”

More Changes on Tap

Nelson said he is eyeing other changes, including making sure that the jobs assigned to administrators make sense today. In some cases, job tasks followed employees to their new roles, such as a risk management employee who is in charge of approving contracts. The workflow followed the employee from his old job in purchasing, Nelson said.

And in response to trustees’ requests for the district to focus on “return on investment” — getting the biggest bang for the bucks spent on education programs — Nelson said he wants to hire outside contractors to review programs, such as the “designated schools” program that adds instruction time and targets disadvantaged students.

Future Schools Foundation in the Works?

“There’s a foundation for Clovis schools, a foundation for Central schools, a foundation for Sanger schools. And we don’t have that.” — FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson

Nelson said he wants to increase the opportunities for the community to engage with and support the district, which unlike other neighboring districts does not have a separate foundation for fundraising and other support activities.

“At some point I need to have an office of external partnerships, kind of like what Larry Salinas does at Fresno State, if I can put the grants office with that person and make it self-sustaining and then have a place where people can congregate,” he said. “There’s a foundation for Clovis schools, a foundation for Central schools, a foundation for Sanger schools. And we don’t have that. There’s not a place for people who want to support the district to congregate.

“I do think people are pretty proud internally now to represent Fresno Unified, but until that’s in the voice of the community, I will have accomplished very little. So I have to try and figure out, how can we better serve the constituents and represent them in their interests. How do I go about doing that? So that would be what I’d probably pursue next.”

The School Board’s public meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and can be viewed at http://go.fresnounified.org/ustream/, Comcast Xfinity Channel 94 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Hey PG&E Customers, Get Ready for New ‘Transaction Fees’

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Ending ‘Squaw Valley’ Fight After Latest Court Ruling

DON'T MISS

Exclusive: Tesla to Delay US Launch of Affordable EV, a Lower-Cost Model Y, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Clovis Reconsiders Recycling Vote. Will a Campaign Contribution Matter?

DON'T MISS

Gov. Newsom Offers $50K Reward in 2022 Kings County Homicide

DON'T MISS

Trump’s White House Launches COVID Website That Criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden

DON'T MISS

Fresno ‘Powers Up’ the Nation’s Largest Combined Solar and Battery Storage Project

DON'T MISS

Trump Admin Asserts COVID-19 Originated in Chinese Lab, Targets Fauci

DON'T MISS

Vendors Back at Fresno’s Art Hop? Survey Wants to Know What You Think

DON'T MISS

Russian Missile Attack Kills One, Wounds 112 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Why Fresno Unified Tried to Keep Superintendent Search Secret

UP NEXT

2 Killed and 5 Hurt in Florida State University Shooting; Gunman in Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Trustees Passed Over a National Superintendent of the Year

UP NEXT

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Trump Plan to End Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

Popular AIs Head-to-Head: OpenAI Beats DeepSeek on Sentence-Level Reasoning

UP NEXT

Al Sharpton Calls Meeting With Target’s CEO Amid DEI Backlash ‘Very Constructive and Candid’

UP NEXT

Former Pentagon Spokesman Tied to Online DEI Purge Was Asked to Resign

UP NEXT

The Kings Agree to Hire Scott Perry as General Manager, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

Shooting at Florida State Sends Students Running; Nearby Hospital Says It’s Treating People

UP NEXT

Actor Michelle Trachtenberg Died of Complications From Diabetes, Says NYC Medical Examiner

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Clovis Reconsiders Recycling Vote. Will a Campaign Contribution Matter?

4 hours ago

Gov. Newsom Offers $50K Reward in 2022 Kings County Homicide

5 hours ago

Trump’s White House Launches COVID Website That Criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden

5 hours ago

Fresno ‘Powers Up’ the Nation’s Largest Combined Solar and Battery Storage Project

6 hours ago

Trump Admin Asserts COVID-19 Originated in Chinese Lab, Targets Fauci

6 hours ago

Vendors Back at Fresno’s Art Hop? Survey Wants to Know What You Think

7 hours ago

Russian Missile Attack Kills One, Wounds 112 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Officials Say

7 hours ago

Iran Says Nuclear Deal Is Possible if Washington Is Realistic

7 hours ago

49ers Look to Strengthen Depleted Defense in NFL Draft

7 hours ago

Habit Burger & Grill Quietly Drops Impossible Burger From Menu

7 hours ago

Hey PG&E Customers, Get Ready for New ‘Transaction Fees’

Pacific Gas & Electric customers are already paying some of the nation’s highest rates for electricity, and their bills could be g...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Hey PG&E Customers, Get Ready for New ‘Transaction Fees’

4 hours ago

Fresno County Ending ‘Squaw Valley’ Fight After Latest Court Ruling

Tesla Inc. vehicle facility is pictured in Costa Mesa, California, U.S., November 1, 2023. (REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo)
4 hours ago

Exclusive: Tesla to Delay US Launch of Affordable EV, a Lower-Cost Model Y, Sources Say

4 hours ago

Clovis Reconsiders Recycling Vote. Will a Campaign Contribution Matter?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Newsom vetoed a landmark bill aimed at establishing first-in-the-nation safety measures for large artificial intelligence models Sunday, Sept. 29. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
5 hours ago

Gov. Newsom Offers $50K Reward in 2022 Kings County Homicide

The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 28, 2025. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo)
5 hours ago

Trump’s White House Launches COVID Website That Criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden

6 hours ago

Fresno ‘Powers Up’ the Nation’s Largest Combined Solar and Battery Storage Project

6 hours ago

Trump Admin Asserts COVID-19 Originated in Chinese Lab, Targets Fauci

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend