What's at stake?
Her will be the first woman and first member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to lead California’s third-largest school district – albeit only in an interim position. She’s taking over at a time when student achievement continues to lag behind the rest of the state.
Misty Her, who will take over as Fresno Unified interim superintendent once Bob Nelson steps down from the district’s top job, shared her priorities for the district in a news conference Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Her said she was working on a 100-day plan and said she wants to see “double-digit gains” in student achievement.
“We must continue our efforts to close the achievement gap,” she said, “to foster a supportive environment where all students thrive.”
Her is the first woman and the first member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to lead Fresno Unified, district spokesperson Nikki Henry confirmed.
She is also the highest-ranking Hmong public school official in the country, according to the district.
Her reflected on those facts during Wednesday’s news conference.
“For 151 years, we’ve not had a woman lead this district,” Her said.
“This historic moment underscores Fresno Unified’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” she added, “celebrating the achievements of women in educational leadership and acknowledging the vital contributions of the AAPI community.”
Her was offered an annual salary of just over $355,000 effective May 8 for the interim position, a $40,000 raise from her compensation as deputy superintendent.
Nelson’s total annual salary after over six years as superintendent is currently just over $406,000.
Fresnoland requested information on what base salary the district is offering Her for the interim position Wednesday afternoon.
The board approved her appointment as interim superintendent at a special board meeting May 3, followed by a news conference. Trustees gave her a standing ovation after their vote, and Nelson said he supports her appointment 100%.
Trustees were expected to vote on her contract at a board meeting Wednesday. Trustee Andy Levine and Board Clerk Valerie Davis attended Her’s news conference in support of her appointment.
The months leading up to Her’s appointment
In January, the district announced Nelson’s departure for a tenure-track faculty position at Fresno State starting in August.
Nelson has led California’s third-largest school district since 2017 – which Fresno Unified touts as an unusually long, stable tenure in a time of turnover and instability in public education.
Despite administrative stability, the district lags far behind the rest of the state in student achievement. Only about a third of students met state standards for English language arts and even fewer than that – around 20% – of students met the standards for math in 2022.
The announcement of Nelson’s departure stated that Her was “anticipated to be named the Interim Superintendent if a permanent Superintendent has yet to be selected” by his last day.
The district ultimately followed through with that plan. But not without weeks of controversy and community backlash over how the board conducted their search for the next superintendent.
Critics challenged the board’s original plan to interview internal candidates first – Board President Susan Wittrup being chief among them.
A politically star-studded coalition of Fresnans joined her in the call for an expanded search during an April 4 board meeting, including City Councilmember Miguel Arias, Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla, Fresno civil rights activist Gloria Hernandez, and developer Darius Assemi – who is also Wittrup’s longtime boyfriend and the publisher of GV Wire.
The board ultimately voted in that meeting to cancel interviews with internal candidates scheduled for that night and go back to the drawing board on the search process. Later that week, the hiring firm the district had contracted with to assist with the superintendent search quit.
While some applauded the board’s move to conduct a more comprehensive search, others questioned the timing of it – and whether it had to do with the fact that all the internal candidates up for interviews are people of color.
Her was presumed to be among the top internal candidates.
Over a dozen people from Fresno’s Hmong community – including business leaders, veterans, students, and Fresno Unified staff – criticized the timing of the board’s reversal at the April 4 meeting with some even accusing Wittrup of “inciting racism.”
On Wednesday, Her said she supports the nationwide search, saying she wants to “competitively compete” for the position.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted Misty Her. The story has been corrected.
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