Reopen California Schools, a statewide Facebook group that organized rallies earlier this month to protest the continued closures of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says parents need to go on strike next week — and keep their kids from logging online for their classes. The group, created in June...
Terry Cox Won’t Seek Another Term on Central Unified Board
The biggest development in Fresno-area school board races perhaps is who won't be on the November ballot. Longtime Central Unified trustee Terry Cox tells GV Wire℠ that she won't run for a sixth term. Cox says that after 20 years on the board she wants to focus on her job as...
As COVID Shutdowns Expand, Will Area Schools Open Next Month?
Local school officials were huddling Monday to talk about how the latest COVID-19 closures ordered Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom might impact back-to-school plans. Central Unified spokeswoman Sonja Dosti said Central Unified superintendent Andy Alvarado and other superintendents were conferring with Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino about preparing...
Schools Face Prospect of Layoffs, Furloughs as State Budget Gets Slashed
California’s public schools, physically closed since mid-March and strapped for cash, are coming out of a frying pan and into a financial fire. The fire comes in the form of a $6.5 billion cut to schools’ main source of funding as well as other reductions in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget...
Valley Schools, Fresno State Face Big Cuts Under Budget Revision
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced massive cuts to California's education budget due to revenue losses in the economic recession sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The May Revision of the 2020-21 proposed $203 billion budget includes $99.7 billion for K-12 schools and $18.6 billion for community colleges and public universities....
Fresno Unified Trustees Reject Slatic’s Nominee for Bond Committee
Four members of the Fresno Unified School Board took the rare step last week of rejecting a School Bond Oversight Committee member nomination made by one of their fellow trustees and recommended for approval by Superintendent Bob Nelson. What's not clear is whether the "no" votes signified the quartet's continuing...
Distance Learning Resumes for Fresno, Clovis Students on Tuesday
Spring break ends on Tuesday when students in Fresno and Clovis schools will go back to distance learning, but some will work more independently than others. In Fresno Unified, some students will interact with their teachers in online classes for the first time since March 16 when schools were closed...
Fresno State Student Cupboard Fundraiser Sets Record, but COVID-19 Creates More Need
Last month's annual fundraising campaign for the Fresno State Student Cupboard set a record with $327,275 contributed by 434 individual donors and community partners. But even though the March Match Up is officially over, the need to support students continues because of pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students...
Special Report: Fresno Unified Parents Want More Learning Amid COVID-19
When schools across the Valley abruptly closed after March 13 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators scrambled to pull together lesson plans to keep students learning as they sheltered at home. Some teachers banded together to get classes posted onto YouTube channels, while others quickly set up teleconference classes and...
Central Unified Board Extends School Closings Through End of School Year
Central Unified School District has joined with most other Valley school districts in extending school closures through the end of the school year in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Unified board voted at a special board Thursday evening to extend the closures, which began March 16. The...