The Fresno Unified School District board voted 7-0 on Wednesday to approve a positive job evaluation for Superintendent Bob Nelson, now in his third year at the helm of California's third-largest school district. The board's vote, which was taken in closed session, was announced early in the meeting's open session...
Is Fresno Ready to Talk About Race? If Not, Shame on Us.
Is Fresno ready to honestly talk about race with willing ears and open minds? If not, the economy of our metropolitan region will never truly hum and scores of residents in poor neighborhoods will continue to be left behind. That was the bottom line emanating from the kick-off meeting Wednesday...
Fresno Unified, Teachers Agree on Historic 3-Year Contract
The Fresno Teachers Association and Fresno Unified School District have reached tentative agreement on a three-year contract that runs through June 2022. Superintendent Bob Nelson announced the agreement at Wednesday night's board of trustees meeting. Nelson: Agreement Grounded in Today's Finances "We looked through all the records going back as...
Special Ed Problems Are Real. The Fresno Unified Script Isn’t.
Fresno Unified leaders carefully drew up Tuesday night's roll-out of the special education budget for the next school year. Assistant Superintendent Brian Beck presented a summary of the Council of the Great City Schools special ed recommendations. Check. Beck meticulously explained the proposed new funding to the 40 teachers, advocates...
Big Special Ed Dollars Coming. Can FUSD Deliver Better Results?
As soon as he became superintendent in 2017, Bob Nelson publicly acknowledged serious, heart-breaking problems in Fresno Unified's often-criticized special education program. The criticism hasn't relented even as Nelson has become the social media face of the district's move to "inclusion" — that is, teaching special ed students, whenever possible,...
Fresno Unified Trustees in No Hurry to Decide Measure X Projects
A special meeting Friday on how to spend the remaining $170 million in Fresno Unified's Measure X construction bonds didn't produce action on a single project. Instead, the trustees voiced their thoughts on funding priorities for nearly three hours. Asked what was accomplished, trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas answered, "Very little." Apparent...
Fresno Unified Trustees Will Decide Measure X Projects Friday
One of the thorniest issues for many school boards is deciding which construction projects to fund. For Fresno Unified's seven trustees, the challenge is how to spend $172 million in remaining Measure X bonds. That might sound like a lot of money — and it is — but the district's...
Job One for Fresno Unified Bureaucracy? Self-Preservation.
The notion that Fresno Unified School District's mission is to educate and equip children to succeed as adults was shredded Thursday at Starr Elementary School. Rather than let Trustee Terry Slatic observe a meeting about how the district intends to improve classrooms for special education students, the district staff told...
This Is How Fresno Unified Can Vault to the Top
Fresno’s future depends on Fresno Unified School District. Its 74,000 students are the biggest part of our future workforce. In fact, what happens at Fresno Unified sometimes is more important than the decisions made at City Hall. If Fresno Unified fails, we all suffer the consequences: Less prosperity, more blighted...
Slatic's Attorney Says Superintendent Trying to Cast Trustee in Bad Light
The attorney representing embattled Fresno Unified trustee Terry Slatic says that Superintendent Bob Nelson is trying to tarnish the trustee's reputation because Slatic's aggressive efforts to improve the district are "ruffling feathers." In an interview with GV Wire on Friday afternoon, attorney Charles K. Manock said that Nelson prematurely approved...