What's at stake?
Another set of resolutions for reductions to classified and certificated staff positions in Fresno Unified were approved by the board on Wednesday. The board’s decision begins the process for employees to be bumped down, moved to an alternative position or laid off that will be finalized in mid-May.
Another round of potential pink slips to employees was approved by the Fresno Unified Board of Education, putting more positions on the line for reductions.
On Wednesday, the board approved two resolutions initiating the process to reduce the equivalent of 49 full-time classified staff positions and two certificated positions.
David Chavez, the district’s chief of human resources and labor relations, said Wednesday’s votes are similar to the board approved resolutions in the Feb. 25 meeting.
“In this case, the board’s action tonight is not one that is a final decision, but instead it’s just a preliminary notice,” Chavez said during Wednesday’s meeting.
Like the positions that were identified before for reductions, the new cuts approved Wednesday will be subject to the “bumping” process. Employees with seniority are bumped down to positions with less pay while retaining their benefits and employment.
Chavez reiterated that even if an employee isn’t able to bump down, the district is looking to offer alternative positions so staff are able to keep their benefits.
Chavez said eliminating the 49 positions wouldn’t actually force anyone out of the district’s workforce, saying “there aren’t any individuals who are being impacted.”
According to Chavez, the district has a deadline of March 15 — Sunday — to notify employees who have been identified for reductions. Staff will be able to have hearings through April if they feel they should not be part of the reductions.
After these hearings, administrative law judges will make recommendations on reductions to the board by May 7. Chavez said once the board adopts the recommendations, a final notification would be sent to staff on May 14 for layoffs or bumping.
The district’s chief financial officer, Patrick Jensen, said that the reductions would impact around 500 positions in total.
“I would say at this point, approximately 300 of those positions are vacancies and early retirements, and then approximately 200 of those positions are positions that have staff in them currently,” Jensen said in an interview on Wednesday.
The reductions will be made effective on June 30 and seek to address a projected deficit of $55 million for the coming 2026-27 school year.
Before the votes on Wednesday evening, community members urged the board against the reductions.
“We are the backbone of our district. I respectfully ask each and every one to please come and see the work that we do right to be in our shoes for one day,” said Eufemia Sanchez, president of the California School Employees Association Fresno Chapter.
At the second portion of the meeting, students and alumni from Roosevelt High’s CTE Fashion Design course spoke during public comment and asked the board to keep the program alive.
Fresnoland spoke to students and alumni of the fashion program, who referenced a video posted to social media by teacher Tamara Norris. Samuel Alviar, a senior in the fashion program, said he attended Wednesday’s meeting to show support for the program he’s involved in.
“I heard this from myriads of students and the teacher herself that they were ending the program prematurely,” Alviar said.
On top of technical and creative skills, students said that the program helps them learn entrepreneurial and networking skills that stem from their collaboration with other departments. Students repair clothing for the theatre department, create their own clothes and sell them, host events and give students interested in fashion a space for community.
Another Roosevelt senior and fashion program student, Branden Vue, says the course’s shuttering is education being ripped from underneath him and his peers.
“I also spoke to Roosevelt’s admin and they had expressed to me that, although it wasn’t like a set date of when she would leave or when the program would be sunsetted, but more than likely it would be towards the end of the year where everything would be like, completely shut off, cut down, which would give Miss Tamara Norris about the whole summer to move out the classroom, and then they would use that classroom for an another course here,” Vue said.
District officials could not confirm an exact timeline for when the Roosevelt High program will be ended, nor the specific reasons for its end. Jensen noted that low enrollment was one of the reasons, but said that the program wasn’t being reduced in connection with current budget talks.
Fresno Unified weighs in on transportation-tax debate
At Fresno Unified’s board meeting on Wednesday, the board approved a resolution officially supporting the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation plan.
Fresno County’s Measure C transportation sales tax is set to expire in 2027. The plan set forth by the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure allocates 65% of an anticipated $7.4 billion toward local road repairs. Another 25% would go toward public transportation, 5% to regional projects, 4% to access and innovation and 1% to administration and oversight.
The measure faces a possible rival transportation initiative known as the “Fix Our Roads” plan. This plan will apportion 50% of an anticipated $3.9 billion pot of money for local road repairs. Another 16% would be set aside for major streets and highways, 16% for a flexible category for local jurisdictions to allocate as they see fit and 18% for public transit.
“We have had a 17-fold increase in our students being hit walking to school or biking to school; we’ve had at least two deaths, one by bike and one pedestrian,” said Veva Islas, president of the FUSD board of education, who voiced her support for the measure.
“When we have asked for investments, we have not gotten the cooperation that we need from our city and our county, and this would be the funding that would allow us to invest in those improvements,” Islas added.
Trustee Valerie Davis also voiced her support for the measure, noting that a school in her area has asked the city of Fresno for better drainage nearby, saying that the street becomes flooded and hampers students.
