Good morning! It’s Thursday, Feb. 26. This is Rob.
The sequel is always worse: It’s back. But today’s dense fog warning expires at 10am and gives ways to another 70-degree day with mostly sunny skies over Fresno this afternoon. NOAA
RIP: The man who founded a historic LGBTQ+ bar in Fresno has died. YourCentralValley
Birthday benefit: The Marjaree’s Birthday Soirée, a benefit dinner for the Marjaree Mason Center, is set for Friday, March 20 at Table Mountain Casino Resort. More info
Got cookies? Find Girl Scout cookie hotspots in Fresno. KMPH
Roll ‘em away: The Fresno City Attorney’s Office will host a Waste Tire Amnesty Day at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Hanoian Shopping Center, 4218 E. Butler Ave., giving residents the chance to dispose of unwanted waste tires free of charge.
1. Fresno Unified moves ahead with mass layoff process
On a busy and at times emotional school board meeting Wednesday, Fresno Unified trustees — fresh off their new record-high pay raises — formally advanced the process that’s expected to result in dozens and potentially hundreds of employee layoffs in the coming year, Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas reports.
More than 200 jobs are potentially on the line next year as the district scrambles to address a nearly $60 million projected deficit.
District officials said the cuts could save FUSD more than $58 million. The potential layoffs and job losses come after the district, late last year, offered retirement incentive packages expected to save the district another $50 million eventually.
It also came just weeks after the FUSD elected trustees doubled their take-home pay.
Edison High School sophomore Brianna Smith was one of many students and community members who spoke out against the job cuts.
Student Brianna Smith: “When education funding is cut, the impact reaches far beyond classrooms, but in families and futures. What does that say about how the district values those who educate us?”
2. Run and hide?
Following a brief but tense discussion Wednesday night, a divided Fresno Unified school board refused to take a formal position on a 45,000-home megadevelopment that district staffers have said would gut the state’s third-largest school district and could force nearly a dozen schools to close.
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver was on hand Wednesday night as the board voted 4-3 to table a resolution formally opposing the Southeast Area Development also known as SEDA, Mayor Jerry Dyer’s plan to open 9,000 acres on the city’s southeastern fringe for massive development.
FUSD has estimated the project could force the closure of as many as 11 schools, and drain $200 million from a district already struggling financially.
But most of Fresno Unified’s elected trustees, even the ones pursuing higher office this year, did not want to take a position for or against one a project that could define the district’s future for decades to come.
Trustees Susan Wittrup, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, Keshia Thomas and Claudia Cázares avoided taking a formal stance on SEDA.
3. Silence!
And with all eyes on the district’s limping budget and a community-altering development plan, Fresno Unified on Wednesday also quietly passed new districtwide cellphone restrictions requiring all students to turn their phones off during class time, Diego Vargas reports for Fresnoland.
Individual schools now have the option of implementing even more cellphone restrictions on top of the districtwide classtime ban.
Students will be allowed to keep their phones in their backpacks and use them between classes, at lunch or other designated times.
Exceptions include if they are utilized in class activities, in case of emergencies, if needed for student health and for individualized education programs.
Additionally, smart watches, tablets and any digital texting devices that could be disruptive to student instructional time are also prohibited.
For schools like Bullard or Hoover High, which utilize stricter phone policies in classrooms, district leaders say the new rules won’t actually change much.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
