Fresno Unified School District is receiving criticism from its teachers union after foregoing an open hiring process for a top position.

At last Wednesday’s School Board meeting, trustees unanimously appointed Carlos Castillo as chief academic officer.

The position was never posted online, and there was no opportunity for external candidates to apply for the position.

Fresno Unified declined to comment on the situation.

The Fresno Teachers Association condemned the process in a Facebook post on Friday.

“Even if the intent was to promote from within, the district owed it to staff, students, and the community to hold a fair and open process. Post the position. Accept applications. Show your work,” the post said.

Multiple follow up calls to FTA President Manuel Bonilla for comment were not returned.

District Fumbles Chance to ‘Change Culture and Rebuild Trust’

The decision to mount an internal search for Dr. Natasha Baker’s successor as chief academic officer followed a lengthy superintendent search that drew community pushback.

This was a chance for Fresno Unified and the School Board to make amends and show growth, FTA stated.

“We hoped this new administration would break that cycle,” the FTA said in a social media post. “Instead, the Board and Superintendent (Misty) Her replicated the very behavior that undermined trust in the first place.”

Last year, the School Board faced strong criticism for initially mounting an internal superintendent search. Trustees bowed to community pressure, taking a step back, and revisiting the hiring process more than half a year later.

Yet, the revised search, open to national candidates, was plagued with concerns surrounding transparency and lack of community input.

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In the end, trustees chose to appoint the only internal candidate, Misty Her.

Fresno Unified, a district with chronically low academic outcomes, is sticking to the status quo, according to FTA.

Now, the union is working on creating a “transparent and inclusive process for selecting top district leadership” that it will present to Fresno Unified.

Baker, who was chief academic officer for two years and seven months, left the district at the end of 2024 to become superintendent of the 15,000-student Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District.

About Castillo

Castillo, who has been with the district for nearly three decades, has a master’s degree from Fresno State, according to his LinkedIn profile.

After Baker exited Fresno Unified, Castillo was named interim chief academic officer. He also has served as the district’s chief of diversity, equity and inclusion and the leader of the curriculum, instruction and professional learning department.

Castillo was the Bullard High School principal for several years before joining the district’s leadership cabinet in 2019.