Good morning! It’s Monday, May 4. This is Rob!
Rain? Parts of Fresno could see rain before 11 a.m. today, and again, later tonight, with some sunshine making a cameo this afternoon. Highs in the 60s. NOAA
Automatic: The Madera MadTown Robotics team is this year’s robotics champions. ABC30
Santos Garcia’s passing: The former Madera mayor passed away over the weekend. ABC30
1. Why Fresno Unified isn’t likely to ‘claw its way out’ of enrollment spiral
Over the last 10 years, thousands of students have disappeared from Fresno Unified campuses, with enrollment losses hitting elementary schools and south Fresno particularly hard.
A new report out this morning from Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad and Diego Vargas raises new questions about school closures that district leaders definitely don’t want to answer. At least not during an election season.
District officials don’t dispute the enrollment losses or the looming school closure debate with some internal estimates ranging from three schools to as many as 11 or more.
But, the potentially devastating news is that experts who spoke with Fresnoland say there’s little California’s third-largest school district can do to reverse the financially crushing trend.
Meanwhile, other nearby districts, like Clovis Unified, are reporting record-high student enrollment.
2. It’s not Cesar Chavez Boulevard anymore
Fresno’s on-again, off-again name-change with a major southside road swung back around over the weekend as ‘Cesar Chavez Boulevard’ officially became three streets again, The Fresno Bee reports.
The Fresno City Council moved forward with removing Cesar Chavez from dozens of street signs, and going back to their original names: California Avenue, Ventura Avenue and Kings Canyon Road.
It’s just the latest in sweeping changes to emerge in the wake of sexual assault allegations involving the late labor rights leader.
3. Is coworking returning to downtown Fresno?
Fresno’s relatively late adoption of the coworking space model is picking up momentum, the Business Journal reports.
“Coworking spaces across Fresno and the Central Valley are at an important crossroads as they still feel the impact of the pandemic and the Bitwise collapse,” the Journal writes, “while also balancing slow local adoption with larger statewide momentum and potential for long-term growth.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
