Fresno Unified Board Clerk Veva Islas raised a few eyebrows this week with a tweet that says she's happy if vaccination opponents infected with COVID-19 may be briefly unable to have children. Islas, a public health advocate who heads Cultiva La Salud, a nonprofit for health equity in the...
Who’s a Racist? School Board Trustee and Local Conservative Honcho Square Off on Twitter
Ever wonder what a Twitter flame war looks like? Then check out the latest skirmish pitting Fresno Unified Trustee Veva Islas (tweeting not from her official trustee account but from her "Vivacious Veva" account) and longtime local conservative leader Michael Der Manouel Jr. Der Manouel, whose Twitter name now reads...
One Night, Two Meetings. FUSD Trustee Does Double Duty as Consultant
Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas displayed her multitasking skills last Wednesday when she appeared at both the School Board meeting and an overlapping meeting of the economic development organization Transform Fresno. Both were held virtually. Thomas, who is clerk of the School Board, was introduced at the Transform Fresno meeting...
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...
United Fresno Council Opposes Release of 'Tower Rapist'
All six Fresno city council members signed a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, expressing concern about the potential early release of Rudolph Acosta. As reported by others in the Fresno media, Acosta was known as the “Tower District Rapist” and sentenced to 78 years in prison. He was initially charged...
Can Fresno Unified Trustees Get Along? They Meet to Find Out.
Officially, the purpose of Wednesday’s (May 22) special Fresno Unified school board meeting was a “governance check-in.” In reality, it was nearly two and a half hours of trustees airing grievances over things like confidentiality, board behavior and agenda-setting. And while no trustee would say as such, the meeting also...
Claudia Cazares Named President of Fresno Unified School Board
The Fresno Unified School Board unanimously voted in Area 6 incumbent Claudia Cazares as board president at its meeting Wednesday at FUSD headquarters. "I am truly honored and very excited about the vote of confidence from my fellow colleagues," Cazares said. Cazares was elected to the board in 2016 after beating...
Improving Special Ed Top Priority For New FUSD Trustees
Three new members will join the Fresno Unified School Board on Wednesday, and all say improving special education will be among their top priorities. "That is something that is very high on my list," said Terry Slatic, who will succeed Brooke Ashjian representing the Bullard High School area. Slatic believes the board...
School Boards: Incumbents Fall in Clovis, Central, Fresno, SCCCD
Veva Islas ousted incumbent Christopher De La Cerda in the Fresno Unified school board race to represent McLane High School trustee area. With 100% precincts reporting, Islas garnered 59% of the vote. De La Cerda, a retired school educator, was seeking his second full term on the school board. The...
De La Cerda Takes Heat for Misrepresenting Endorsements
McLane High School area trustee Christopher De La Cerda misrepresented his endorsements to local media, the Fresno Teachers Association said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. The first instance was with The Fresno Bee and then in a GV Wire article, FTA said. SEIU, CTA Endorse Islas In both instances, De La...