What's at stake?
State test scores were released on Thursday and showed increases in math and English proficiency rates for many school districts Fresno County, including Fresno, Clovis and Central Unified.
Overall, schools in Fresno County saw their test scores head in the right direction, but the area’s largest district still remains behind the curve.
The 2024-25 results from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) were released on Thursday and show the number of students in Fresno County who met or exceeded state standards reached 46.44% for English Language Arts and 34.09% in math, increases of +2.14% and +1.91%, respectively.
“These gains reflect the hard work and collaboration we see every day across our schools,” Michele Cantwell-Copher, Fresno County superintendent noted in a statement on Thursday. “While we are encouraged, we also know there is more work to be done.”
Fresno, Clovis and Central Unified all made the following improvements to their scores:
- Fresno Unified — +2.39% for English, +2.01% for math
- Total score: 37.11% for English 27.15% for math
- Clovis Unified — +0.76% for English, +1.68% for math
- Total score: 67.82% for English, 54.09% for math
- Central Unified — +2.5% for English +1.34% for math
- Total score: 44.28% for English, 30.02% for math
“We still have work to be done to see every one of our students and every one of our schools surpass grade level standards, but there is much to celebrate in this year’s assessment results,” said Clovis Unified Superintendent Corrine Folmer in a statement on Thursday. “This steady forward progress is evidence that the work that our entire educational team is paying dividends for our students.”
For Fresno Unified, the latest scores are a steady step towards returning to pre-pandemic scores. For comparison, Fresno Unified had proficiency rates of 38.27% in English and 29.85% for math in 2019.
Fresno Unified could not be immediately reached for comment.
Some districts, like Caruthers, Coaling-Huron, Sanger, have made improvements of at least +3% for both categories. Kings Canyon Joint Unified stands out with improvements of +4.69% and +4.25% to ELA and Math, respectively.
How Fresno Unified has been working towards improved scores
The district’s priorities, as outlined by their “goals and guardrails,” emphasize improvements to literacy across multiple grade levels and student populations, including early literacy and vulnerable student group.
The district’s first review of their established early literacy goals in August showed that they fell short. However, some schools did meet the yearly early literacy goal and Superintendent Misty Her outlined plans with deadlines to get the other schools on track with the district’s objectives.
Part of the plans outlined by the superintendent included challenging students with more rigorous text, additional staff training and more student learning opportunities beyond the regular school day.
Fresno Unified offers retirement incentives
At Wednesday’s board meeting, the district outlined a retirement incentive for employees aged 55 with five consecutive years of service to the district. Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) would oversee the new supplementary retirement plan.
According to the PARS, around 1,900 employees meet the eligibility criteria for the plan. Employees who qualify have until Dec. 5 to choose to participate and would retire no later than June 30, 2026. Employees who choose to participate also have the option to come back as substitute teachers under certain conditions.
“What we’re trying to do is to generate cost savings through reduced employee payroll costs,” said Dennis Yu, executive vice president for PARS, during a presentation at Wednesday’s meeting.
While enrollment was not discussed during the presentation, average daily attendance is directly tied to school district funding. ABC30 reports that Fresno Unified’s enrollment is down 820 students compared to a year ago.
According to Yu, the district has offered four different plans in the last 30 years, the last significant one occurring in 2010 where 600 employees participated in the early retirement program.
Of the 1,919 eligible employees, PARS projects 459 employees will opt-in, which Yu described as a conservative projection. The projected savings from the 459 retirements would total more than $9.4 million in the first year and more than $35.2 million over five years.
Depending on the final headcount of retirements, the board will choose to rescind or approve the program at their Dec. 17 board meeting.
