A child walked into a school building expecting to be protected, supported, and kept safe.

Instead, according to reporting on the case and subsequent state regulatory actions, she experienced a medical emergency, struggled to breathe, used her inhaler multiple times, and was sent home rather than receiving the emergency response that could have saved her life.

The California Board of Registered Nursing later took action related to the conduct of Fresno Unified nurses involved in the incident.

Behind Every Report Is a Person

Behind every investigation, every report, and every public statement is a child who should still be here — a daughter, a classmate, a friend.

Her death cannot be reduced to a public relations challenge, managed through carefully crafted statements, or even worse, complete silence from district leaders and school board trustees.

It demands a level of honesty, transparency, and accountability worthy of the trust families place in our schools every single day.

I became a school board trustee because I believe public education requires courage. It requires adults willing to ask hard questions, demand accountability, and put children before politics.

What I did not expect was how often the greatest resistance would come not from outside the system, but from within it.

In Fresno Unified, I have learned that raising concerns can make you a target. Instead of engaging with the substance of my concerns, there have been repeated efforts to marginalize my voice and portray oversight as opposition.

My Facebook page has been stalked by attorneys, a grand jury investigation carried out on me – all in the district’s effort to keep me quiet. The board is routinely manipulated to defend the administration.

‘I Will Not Apologize’

But I will not apologize for doing the job voters elected me to do.

A trustee is not an employee of the administration. A trustee is not a public relations representative. A trustee’s responsibility is oversight — especially when the stakes involve children’s lives.

And that is why I will not ignore the heartbreaking death of an 11-year-old Fresno Unified student who suffered a severe asthma attack while under the care of the district. I think about her family, her brother, her aunt, her parents, and the loss and trauma they have experienced every day since they lost her.

This could have happened to any of our children on any given day at Fresno Unified.

A child’s death should trigger immediate transparency, independent review, and a commitment to finding every answer. Instead, district leadership is currently actively contacting attorneys to shut me up after I spoke candidly about this on the GV Wire Unfiltered podcast Tuesday evening.

When that doesn’t work, their next step will be to triangulate board members to divide the board and attempt to have my own board colleagues censor me. This, too, is a toxic pattern of district leadership in FUSD that I have become personally familiar with.

However, I will never remain quiet when it comes to students’ health and safety. I worked night and day to get answers two years ago as board president when I first learned about the tragic death of our student at Homan.

Whistleblower Emailed Entire Board

The nurse whistleblower emailed the entire board a detailed narrative and timeline about what occurred. I immediately requested that the board launch our own independent investigation into the circumstances, but did not receive support for doing this from any other board member.

On Wednesday, I made the request again, this time for both student deaths, in February 2022 and March 2026, in the Fresno High region.

Instead, what the public has seen is a disturbing pattern: questions arise, and the focus shifts toward managing the fallout.

That is not leadership.

When a tragedy occurs in a school system, the first question should never be, “How do we protect the district’s reputation?” The first question must be, “How did this happen, and what must we change so it never happens again?”

Families deserve that honesty. Students deserve that commitment. The community deserves leaders who understand that accountability is not an attack.

For too long, Fresno Unified has treated crises as image problems instead of leadership problems.

A public institution cannot build trust by controlling information. It cannot rebuild confidence by dismissing critics. It cannot claim to put children first while resisting the very oversight designed to protect them.

‘This Is Not the Culture Our Students Deserve’

The most troubling part of this culture is what it teaches everyone watching.

It teaches families that asking questions may get them labeled as difficult. It teaches employees that speaking up may come with consequences. It teaches trustees that challenging the status quo may result in being isolated instead of supported.

That is not the culture our students deserve.

Our children are taught in classrooms that integrity matters. They are taught to tell the truth, accept responsibility, and learn from mistakes. Those principles must apply to the adults leading our schools as well.

I have been told, directly and indirectly, that raising concerns makes me a problem. I reject that idea.

The problem is not the person asking questions. Thank you to the nurse who had the courage to bring this forward as a whistleblower. That took guts in this climate! My question now is what happens next? Will my trustee colleagues have the courage to circle the wagons with me and demand answers from district administration — before another child dies?

I Will Continue

I will continue to ask questions. I will continue to advocate for transparency. I will continue to stand with families who deserve answers. That is not political theater. That is the responsibility I accepted when I took my oath of office.

A school district’s reputation is not protected by avoiding accountability.

It is protected by earning trust.

Fresno Unified does not need better messaging when children and families are hurting. It needs a renewed commitment to honesty, transparency, and accountability.

Because every student who walks through our school doors deserves more than an institution that protects its image.

They deserve an institution that protects them.

About the Author

Susan Wittrup represents the Bullard High region on the Fresno Unified School Board.

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