Fresno Unified School District will present a deputy superintendent employment agreement for approval at the School Board meeting Wednesday night.

Fresno Unified is looking to appoint Dr. Ben Amuku Drati, a Fresno State alumnus who started his teaching career in Fresno.

The position has been vacant since Misty Her became Interim Superintendent in May 2024.

If approved, Drati will officially begin work on Tuesday, Sept. 2 under a three-year contract.

The district declined to comment on the pending employment.

Contract Breakdown

Drati will earn $310,000 annually, broken down into 12 monthly payments, according to the employment agreement. This does not include other pay and benefits.

The salary can increase and will be adjusted in accordance with changes made to management-level employee salaries, including one-time payments.

Additionally, Drati will receive a $500 monthly auto travel allowance and a one-time payment of $10,000 to help with relocation costs.

He is allocated 20 days of paid time off with an accrual not to exceed 40 days.

Superintendent Her will annually evaluate Drati and the contract can be terminated without cause alongside a severance pay equating one year’s salary, given on monthly basis.

Drati has already signed the contract, which now awaits Board President Valarie Davis’s signature.

The Fresno Teachers Association had no comment on Drati’s pending hiring.

Drati Brings Impressive Resume

Drati has years of experience in district level administration, including serving as superintendent for around eight years with student test scores to boast about.

And his life story is aspirational. At the age of 10, he fled war-torn Uganda with his family, which settled in Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, he played football at Fresno State while obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry. Later he earned a Doctor of Education in educational leadership and administration from Fresno State.

He started his career as a chemistry teacher at Central High School in 1997, working there for three years.

After, he served as an assistant principal at Riverdale High School.

He became a learning director at Clovis West High School before being appointed principal of the high school for five years.

Working his way up, Drati was hired as assistant superintendent of secondary education at Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Later, he worked as the Superintendent of Schools for seven years in Santa Monica-Malibu School District, serving about 10,000 students.

Upon his hiring in Santa Monica, Drati said: “I am committed to keeping the interest of children as my highest priority. I will work collaboratively with the board, teachers, classified staff and parents, and commit to serving as a worthy ambassador of SMMUSD to the world.”

When he left Santa Monica, 73% of students met English Language Arts standards and almost 56% met math standards.

Bellflower Unified School District appointed him Superintendent of Schools soon after. After one year, the School Board voted to terminate the contract.

About 43% of students met ELA standards and almost 27% met math standards during his year-long tenure at Bellflower.

Then, he started Drati Consulting: Advancing Social & Academic Excellence Through Collective Efficacy. The company works to advance social and academic excellence by improving the efficacy of educators, according to the company’s LinkedIn.