A current Fresno City Councilmember, a rancher, a retired school administrator, a social worker and an education advocate are running to represent the Edison region to the southwest of Fresno Unified, a seat held by outgoing trustee Keshia Thomas since 2018.
Miguel Arias, 48, has represented district three on the Fresno City Council since 2019 and is the current vice president. He previously served in multiple roles at FUSD for over 10 years, including as a chief information officer, and also served as a trustee for Mendota Unified’s board and the State Center Community College District.
Rizpah Bellard, 32, is a cattle rancher and agriculture educator currently with Fresno Unified. Bellard is also an entrepreneur and operates housing for people with psychiatric disabilities Fresno County’s Independent Living Program.
Daren Miller, 60, served in K-12 schools in Fresno, Clovis, Madera and Central Unified for 34 years, with 30 of those being served in administrative roles. He retired in 2024, but has been working as a substitute vice principal since then.
Deshunna Ricks, 42, is an education advocate and adjunct instructor in social work who served for eight years as a counselor in schools on the west side of Fresno Unified. Ricks has also worked as a program manager for FUSD’s Advancing Academic Acceleration & Achievement (A4) department.
Michelle Longoria is an education advocate with a focus on bilingual education access for students. She declined an interview with Fresnoland.
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Miguel Arias | Rizpah Bellard | Daren Miller | Deshunna Ricks
Miguel Arias
Job: Current Fresno City Council Vice President
Age: 48
Residency: Born in Mexico, raised and lives in Fresno
Key Endorsements: Assemblymember Esemaralda Soria, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, Former Mayor Alan Autry, Iron Workers Local 155, Carpenters Union, Local 701, IBEW Local 100, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local. No. 1027, Sheet Metal Workers 104, Painters Local Union 294, Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte
What are your priorities for the position?
Arias wants to focus on fiscal responsibility and safety reform in response to deaths on Fresno Unified campuses, saying that cuts are only further weakening the district’s ability to respond to emergencies and offer students specialty programs.
Arias wants to prioritize the district’s programs and athletics for students in order to draw in families into the district and compete with nearby school districts.
Arias said he wants to address mismanagement in Fresno Unified, saying the district’s communication with the community hasn’t been transparent enough on issues like budget cuts and school closures.
“For years, it will tear down the quality of life and the value of that neighborhood, because schools are the hub of a good neighborhood and that’s what’s coming extremely near soon to us as a community, is closure of schools,” Arias said, adding, “especially of our neighborhood schools, because of the financial, academic, and programmatic mismanagement of the district, and all I see is people pointing the finger at each other.”
How will you improve district communication?
Arias said that part of the communication issue at the district is a disconnect between leaders and everyday operations and that leaders don’t want to share information that paints them negatively.
Arias explained there needs to be follow-up responses to let community members know the district is aware and actively working to resolve issues or emergencies.
“You’re not looking at it from my perspective as a parent, a body was discovered, nobody was held accountable,” Arias said, referring to the discovery of a deceased person at Fresno High earlier this year.
How do you want to address the district’s current levels of enrollment, average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism?
To bring families and students back, Arias says he wants to focus on academic and athletics opportunities for students.
“You find yourself in this constant debate of whose fault it is, while the real challenge is a lack of strong academic programs and rigor, which is leading to the exodus of the district.”
Arias emphasized that the district is addressing absenteeism the same way it would tackle truancy, saying that the real solution is to bolster support in the classroom and improve the quality of instruction.
How will you approach labor negotiations for the district?
Arias said that wants to be honest with labor unions about staffing needs the district can realistically meet without damaging student achievement.
“Labor unions have an important role to advocate for their members, to negotiate contracts in the interest of their members; the board of education has a much more important task, which is to look out for what’s best for kids and engage in the fiduciary duty of the system and ensure that we’re providing the best possible service of public education to every single resident.”
What is your approach to cuts at the classroom level?
Arias said that the district needs to make cuts at the administrative and central office level first before touching anything else.
He said he wants to support rigor in the classroom and avoid closures or any impacts to schools that would then cause reverberations in their respective neighborhoods.
“I’ve been very crystal clear that our campaign is about saving neighborhood schools, and the way to save neighborhood schools is to improve them and offer an educational service that has residents and neighbors sending their kids there.”
Do you have any plans to invest in the district’s athletics?
Arias said he wants to improve athletics opportunities and facilities for students. Additionally, Arias says that the district needs to be more involved in engaging the community through sports, like through recreational leagues or frameworks seen in Clovis Unified.
“We should be attracting the best coaches and all sports.”
Who donated to their campaign?
County campaign documents show that Arias’ campaign received the following donations:
- Juan Arambula – $5,000
- Car Master Inc. – $1,000
- Fresno Plumbing & Heating – $10,000
- Susan Wittrup for FUSD Trustee Area 7 – $10,000
- Soria for Senate 2026 – $2,000
- Brooke Ashjian – $1,000
- Amalgamated Transit Union Local – $1,000
- Brad Hardle – $1,500
- Augie Perez – $1,000
- Sterling Hartel Developments I, Inc – $1,000
- Youth Save Democracy – $10,000
- Fresno, Madera, Kings, Tulare Co. Building Trades Council – $1,000
Rizpah Bellard
Job: Rancher and educator
Age: 32
Residency: Lives in Fresno
Key Endorsements: EIU Local 521, Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings California Labor Council) Fresno Teacher’s Association, Pastor DJ Criner, NWPC, State Center Federation of Teachers (AFT Local 1533), Vida Luna Housing
What are your priorities for the position?
Bellard wants to focus on early childhood literacy to get kids reading by the age of 5 and to strengthen connections between the district and the community.
Bellard also wants to get more parents and community members to engage with the board, something she says she can do by showing up for the community to get others involved.
“Show up to something; be a part of something, come to something that really does it,” Bellard said, adding “you can see a difference in academic outcomes in just school sites alone.”
How will you improve district communication?
Bellard wants to have quarterly meetings in her area and let families and students share feedback with her, saying that not everyone can show up to board meetings to learn or respond to district decisions.
“Whenever progress reports come out, to have sessions or get-togethers with community members, different languages in different areas that are accessible to folks either on the bus line or within a walking distance in their community so they can come and talk and just ask what’s going on and what are they seeing.”
How do you want to address the district’s current levels of enrollment, average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism?
While Bellard did not list any specific plans on addressing enrollment, she said that she wants to hear from community members at school sites to understand the unique issues that are causing families to leave the district.
“I don’t think anybody really knows, you can talk to five different families that have taken their kids out and you have five different reasons.”
Bellard also said that chronic absenteeism could be reduced by offering support for parents in early grades, saying that parents of young children could be helped with things like transportation.
How will you approach labor negotiations for the district?
Bellard said everyone wants to support students and said she would listen to staff and be honest about what the district can do for employees without hampering student safety or academics.
“I think for me, keeping that in the back of my mind, that the bus drivers might strike, but they always want to make sure that the students are going to get to school safe and get back home safe.”
What is your approach to cuts at the classroom level?
Bellard said that she would want to understand the budget and listen to experts to make decisions that put the district and student achievement first.
Do you have any plans to invest in the district’s athletics?
Bellard did not outline any specific plans to invest in athletics, saying that she would like to see the district invest more in teaching students life skills.
Who donated to their campaign?
Bellard’s campaign received the following donations:
- Rizpah Bellard – $10,000
- National Women’s Political Caucus of Fresno PAC – $1,000
- Fresno Teachers Association PAC for Education – $23,796
- Kevin Tatum – $3,500
Daren Miller
Job: Retired K-12 administrator, substitute vice principal
Age: 60
Residency: Lives in Fresno
Key Endorsements: Dolores Huerta Action Fund, Fresno County Democratic Women Club, San Joaquin Valley Democratic Club, Cecil “Chief” Smith and Oscar Haynes, Pastor BT Lewis, Jr., Bishop Paul Binion, Community Alliance Newspaper, Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, Fresno County Democratic Party
What are your priorities for the position?
Miller says he wants to strengthen resources for early childhood literacy, specifically noting that strong foundations before the first grade are needed.
One idea Miller floated to further emphasize childhood literacy would be to separate grades by transitional kindergarten (TK) through the second grade as their own campuses. Miller said that this would also help shrink classroom sizes to give teachers breathing room to better focus on their students.
“Everybody needs to be to the same standard, but we got to understand that they’re all going to get there in different ways, and that’s our job as educators.”
How will you improve district communication?
While referring to the changes made by FUSD to magnet school bus stops, Miller said students and parents should never be blindsided by any decision impacting them, noting that decisions like that should be communicated with school and community members multiple times.
“Those types of communications should have come out from each individual elementary school to their circle of parents.”
How do you want to address the district’s current levels of enrollment, average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism?
While FUSD does home visits with chronically absent students, Miller says that the district needs to invest more in meeting kids and families where they’re at, explaining that absences have multiple root causes behind them.
Miller also said that he would like to see an expansion of online instruction in Fresno Unified to better accommodate students and regain attendance levels.
“If they can’t get back into regular school, then get them into continuation school, an online program of some sort to get them back connected to the academic, educational side.”
Miller also said that the district needs to consider exporting the attraction of specialty programs in magnet schools to all regions, highlighting that Computech Middle School’s opening was drawing families from all over Fresno Unified.
How will you approach labor negotiations for the district?
Miller said he would approach negotiations “way different than the way they’re doing it now,” saying that the relationships between unions and FUSD have become adversarial. Miller said that he wants to be clear and honest about finances with union partners to find resolutions amicably.
“I may not get what I want.,you may [not], but we have to agree that the reason why we’re here is, baseline, bottom line, is for kids.”
What is your approach to cuts at the classroom level?
Miller said that he wants to keep cuts far away from classrooms, custodial staff and school sites as a whole, saying that the district is cutting too much that supports student academics.
“Fresno Unified has consistently been overstaffed administratively,” Miller said, adding “I think that’s an area that needs to be looked at when you start talking about reduction of staff first.”
Do you have any plans to invest in the district’s athletics?
Miller did not outline any specific plans for investing in district athletics, saying that he is instead focused on academic achievement for students first.
Who donated to their campaign?
Miller’s campaign did not receive any donations.
Deshunna Ricks
Job: Adjunct instructor at Fresno Pacific University, CEO of I AM Valuable
Age: 42
Residency: Lives in Fresno
Key Endorsements: African American Community Council, Central Valley Progressive PAC
What are your priorities for the position?
Ricks says she’s focused on supporting early childhood literacy, partnerships and mentorships for students and increasing the number of CTE programs and paid internships.
Ricks also noted that she would like to implement CTE pathways into K-12 to get students thinking and imagining themselves in successful careers in the future. Ricks also wants to explore adding more life skills into curriculums to ensure students feel confident once they leave K-12.
“Making sure that they are college and career ready, not just with a degree but with real and relevant skills, so that they can meaningfully contribute to their communities.”
Ricks also said she would like to expand training opportunities for educators to be more trauma-informed and better support students’ social-emotional needs.
How will you improve district communication?
Ricks says that the district needs to meet parents where they are, specifically saying that she wants to hold monthly meetings in her region to communicate updates and gather feedback from parents and students.
How do you want to address the district’s current levels of enrollment, average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism?
Ricks explained that she would like to see a thorough root cause analysis to understand all the facts behind why families and students are leaving the district.
“Our students are experiencing some real issues, some real problems, and so doing that root cause analysis and aligning the resources to make sure that our students are getting what they need so that they can get to school.”
Ricks also said that the district needs to be in constant communication with families about support for both students and parents to build back a trusting relationship with community members and turn around the current of students leaving the district.
How will you approach labor negotiations for the district?
Ricks said negotiations need to be discussed in good faith and transparently, explaining that she wants to be upfront with labor unions to look for ways to support staff while keeping students first.
“If they are not well and if they’re stressed and if they’re not supported, then it is actually going to come out in their teaching and how they show up in the classroom.”
What is your approach to cuts at the classroom level?
Ricks said she wants to avoid making cuts that impact teachers and students, instead noting that she would explore where the district can cut from its vendor contracts and to eliminate any duplication of services not focused on improvements in classrooms.
“You can’t profit off of students and not produce outcomes, that’s fiscal irresponsibility.”
Do you have any plans to invest in the district’s athletics?
Ricks did not outline any specific plans for athletics, saying that she wants to improve district connections with the community and students.
Who donated to their campaign?
Ricks’ campaign did not receive any donations.
