What's at stake?
Fresno Unified's board meeting was attended by parents who called on the district to increase its communication with parents amid the heightened enforcement.
Parents and community members called on Fresno Unified’s board to bolster its support for students in light of escalating immigration enforcement in the Central Valley.
Nearly all of the public commenters at Wednesday’s meeting urged the school board to more aggressively communicate with parents about the effects of ICE enforcement and what resources are available to ensure families can make it to and from schools safely.
“Please explicitly reaffirm to every principal, teacher and school resource officer that no federal immigration agent is allowed onto a campus without a signed judicial warrant, and ensure families know exact protocols if officers are spotted nearby,” said Cheryl Stowers, a parent in the district. “Our children cannot learn if they are living in terror.”
Other community members spoke on behalf of parents who weren’t present at the meeting for fear of immigration enforcement. Several asked the district to meet parent concerns by allowing children to stay home and learn online, as they did during the pandemic.
Some cited the district’s own board policy on independent studies, specifically noting that students can get permission for any independent study program that lasts 15 school days or fewer.
Carlos Castillo, the district’s chief academic officer, invited families to take advantage of short-term independent study if they anticipate absences. Castillo also referred to the district’s School of Independent Study and Farber School of Online Learning.
FUSD’s chief financial officer, Patrick Jensen, told Fresnoland that the district has seen an impact from immigration enforcement, noting that it lost around 2.1% in average daily attendance (ADA) this past Friday compared to last year.
According to Jensen, this translates to a loss of around $115,000 from lost student attendance.
“It’s something that we monitor on a day-to-day basis, but yeah, attendance was down over just over 2% on Friday,” Jensen said.
Fresno schools cut 20 teacher positions
Though not discussed during the board meeting due to being on the consent agenda, Wednesday’s meeting agenda included revisions to the current school year budget, something Jensen says is typical for Fresno Unified’s size and wallet.
In total, there are $2.1 million in additional costs and adjustments of around $4.3 million to this year’s budget, which includes a net reduction of 20 teacher positions offset by nine vacancies and decreased Special Education staffing for seven classrooms.
Jensen said that there will not be any additional management positions added this fiscal year, but said management positions are being shuffled to accommodate budget cuts.
“As those continue to increase, you’ll probably see a budget revision to reflect that energy costs, inflationary costs, and then position movements,” Jensen said.
Additionally, the district sold 2024 Measure H bonds and 2026 general obligation refunding bonds for $95.5 million on Sep. 3 for facility improvements, producing over $339 million in total orders from investors.
