Fresno Unified Trustees Approve SEDA Opposition After Heated Public Comment
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The Fresno Unified School Board appeared poised to once again table a formal opposition to the city of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area plan until trustees’ thinking was seemingly shifted by lengthy public comment.
“I’m just blown away. … I really don’t know why again we’re putting it off,” community activist Gloria Hernandez told the board. “We voted for you to represent the students at Fresno Unified and by delaying this issue or taking a neutral way, you’re failing.”
In late February, trustees voted to indefinitely table the item in a split 4-3 vote. On Wednesday, the item returned to the agenda and was approved in a 4-0-3 vote.
“We cannot hold parents hostage in poor performing schools. And I believe strongly that if our schools were high functioning, if kids were learning to read and do math at grade level, families would stay. There would be no threat from SEDA. So that’s our job. Our job is to work on improving our schools and our student outcomes.” — Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup
The board’s opposition to the potential 9,000-acre expansion of the city of Fresno’s southeastern edge comes as Fresno Unified projects it will lose 1,200 to 1,700 annually students annually over the next seven years. The district loses about $17 million per 1,000 students.
However, Paul Idsvoog, the district’s chief of operations said, SEDA would contribute just 29 lost students annually for the first five years.
Trustees voted against 1,547 acres of research and development land for advanced manufacturing which would create jobs, Mayor Jerry Dyer said.
“For the life of me I can’t understand it because we have one in four people living below the poverty line,” he said. “What it tells me is we have a bunch of uninformed people making uninformed decisions.”
Details of the Vote
Trustees Susan Wittrup, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, and Claudia Cazares — citing her employment with the city of Clovis — abstained from the vote. The three said they abstained because they didn’t think the trustees should vote on city land use decisions. That choice aligned with their previous vote and comments.
But Keshia Thomas flipped and voted in favor of the resolution after saying she had wished to keep the item in the legislative subcommittee until the city presented updated plans.
But a “mind was changed,” Thomas said, without identifying who that was. School Board President Veva Islas and Andy Levine serve alongside Thomas on the subcommittee.
All three voted in favor of the resolution alongside trustee Valerie Davis.
“I think it is important for us to accept (declining enrollment) and to safeguard from speeding this along or creating a steeper decline. Our responsibility as a School Board is fiscal solvency,” Islas said. “Anything that impacts that is our responsibility to consider and try to prevent.”
The resolution will allow Fresno Unified and Superintendent Misty Her to take a formal stance against SEDA, as the growth area was initially proposed. However, the city is working on plan revisions.
Some trustees said that SEDA isn’t in their jurisdiction.
“This is a land use issue, and we have locally elected city council members and a locally elected mayor who are in charge of land use decisions,” Wittrup told GV Wire. “I guess I am perplexed as to why the school board should be weighing in on land use decisions.”
“I think it is important for us to accept (declining enrollment) and to safeguard from speeding this along or creating a steeper decline. Our responsibility as a School Board is fiscal solvency. Anything that impacts that is our responsibility to consider and try to prevent.” — Fresno Unified School Board President Veva Islas
Related Story: Amid SEDA Jousting, Trustee Islas Says, ‘Threats From Mayor Do Not Deter ...
Political Motives are Questioned
During a previous meeting, Islas issued a political salvo to Dyer: “Threats from the mayor do not deter me.”
Later, a Fresnoland report revealed that Dyer texted trustees in February urging them to reject the proposed SEDA opposition.
Several people brought up the incident, shaming Dyer and urging trustees not to prioritize relationships with politicians and land developers.
Some trustees’ political ambitions were questioned by speakers at the meeting.
In late April, student trustee Jonaven Souksamlane openly questioned if trustees were being motivated by “political interests” while referring to SEDA.
This caused Jonasson Rosas to make a lengthy comment, which she deemed necessary due to her character being called into question.
“I feel my integrity and my position have been maybe misunderstood and misconstrued. For me, this is not politics.,” Jonasson Rosas told GV Wire. “This is not me taking any position on SEDA or any other planning that the city does.”
Jonasson Rosas previously ran for City Council District 5. Meanwhile, Thomas is running for the District 3 seat.
Arambula Weighs In, Wittrup Responds
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, raised his voice while speaking against SEDA at the meeting and also went on the attack against trustees.
Without mentioning their names, he alluded to Cazares, saying she shouldn’t allow her employer to prohibit her from acting, and Thomas, saying she shouldn’t allow political aspirations to sway her. He seemingly also made a similar remark about Wittrup, saying she shouldn’t allow who she dates (GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi) to guide her votes.
Arambula is running for the same city council seat as Thomas.
Said a flabbergasted Cazares from the dais: “I’ve never, in the last 26 years, been shamed publicly for my day job… why I’m being shamed is beyond me.”
“Even more disappointing were the misogynistic comments made by Joaquin Arambula, who given his own personal problems and vast political experience, should know better.” — Susan Wittrup
Responded Wittrup in a statement to GV Wire:
“It’s a sad state of affairs when candidates running for the Fresno City Council need to bully and shame school board members on land use decisions. They don’t have the guts to challenge the mayor or city councilmembers directly.
“Even more disappointing were the misogynistic comments made by Joaquin Arambula, who given his own personal problems and vast political experience, should know better.”
Arambula recently agreed to a preliminary settlement in a messy divorce from his wife Elizabeth that generated headlines. Court records also revealed that his wife had raised concerns about the assemblymember’s addictions to cannabis and video games, and made public that he had missed considerable time from the Assembly to enter rehab.
In addition to Arambula and Thomas, a third Fresno City Council candidate, incumbent Brandon Vang, attended the meeting as a “private citizen.”
Vang told that board he believes there needs to be “additional discussions about SEDA” which will have “lifelong consequences.”
Related Story: Fresno Unified Trustees’ Political Motivations Questioned Over SEDA ...
SEDA Falls Outside Fresno Unified Boundaries
The 9,000-acre SEDA falls within Clovis Unified and Sanger Unified boundaries. Both school districts have higher state testing scores than Fresno Unified, as well as growing enrollments.
“I have to ask: would we want (the Clovis and Sanger) school boards passing resolutions about decisions that affect us? I think not. We would call that an overreach.” — Fresno Unified Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas
“We cannot hold parents hostage in poor performing schools. And I believe strongly that if our schools were high functioning, if kids were learning to read and do math at grade level, families would stay,” Wittrup said. “There would be no threat from SEDA. So that’s our job. Our job is to work on improving our schools and our student outcomes.”
Jonasson Rosas echoed this statement and reiterated that trustees should focus on students and improving outcomes. Additionally, she acknowledged that the development plan would increase enrollment in Clovis and Sanger Unified.
“I have to ask: would we want those boards passing resolutions about decisions that affect us? I think not” Jonasson Rosas said. “We would call that an overreach.”
The trustee mentioned how the Fresno City Council unanimously passed the West Area Neighborhoods Specific Plan, which guides growth west of Highway 99. This directly impacts Central Unified, who plans to add four new schools. The item was not met with any community backlash.
In April, Central Unified trustees unanimously approved a resolution to formally oppose SEDA. The decision was praised by community members in attendance. And two trustees, Harman Singh and Naindeep Singh, attended the Fresno Unified meeting to urge trustees to do the same. Naindeep is running for the Fresno City Council District 1 seat.
“I don’t think that anyone in this room truly believes whatever decision you make here today will have any effect on what the city will or won’t do. But what it will do is show your values. It will show where you stand,” Harman Singh said.
Related Story: Central Unified Trustees Make It Official: We Unanimously Oppose SEDA
Fresno Unified Losing Students at an Accelerated Rate
Fresno Unified has experienced a rapid decline in student enrollment since COVID-19, losing about 4,000 students. And the situation is worsening, according to new district data.
“We were initially anticipating a loss of about a thousand students per year,” Fresno Unified CFO Patrick Jensen said. “Latest projections range between 1,200 and 1,700 over the next seven years.”
Fresno Unified serves about 66,000 students but receives funding for an average daily attendance of around 62,000 students.
The district predicts that enrollment will drop below 59,500 by the 2030-31 school year and it will only receive ADA funding for 57,780 students.
Student enrollment began to decline after the pandemic with some elementary schools each losing over 100 students since the 2018-19 school year.
This is without SEDA, which the district predict will cause a much lower amount of student loss.
“Currently, what has been shared with me, is probably 100 units by 2030 and by 2035 you’re looking at 2,300 units,” Paul Idsvoog, the district’s chief of operations said. “It’s about 29 students (lost) a year and about 257 total for that time period.”
The district is considering mitigation strategies including program consolidation, moving sixth grade to middle school sites, and boundary changes. Staff will conduct community meetings before proceeding with this, according to Idsvoog.
Fresno Unified Considers School Closure
Now, school closures are something the district is having to consider. But this would be a last resort, Her said.
“As elementary schools get smaller and smaller and get under 400 or 300 students, we do have to start looking at the potential for consolidation,” Jensen said.
A couple are dangerously close to dipping below 300, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that site will close. There will be a high level of community involvement in school closures and a multitude of factors will be considered, according to Jensen.
Late last year, the Fresno Teachers Association asserted that SEDA would lead to the closure of 11 schools.
Dyer called that number misinformation, and Jensen declined to make any predictions about the effect of SEDA on school closures.
However, new development and single family homes outside of district boundaries will “obviously have a negative impact on enrollment over time,” Jensen said.
City of Fresno Completing SEDA Analysis
The city of Fresno is completing an analysis requested by the city council for a smaller SEDA phase, which will be presented this summer.
Wittrup also expressed a desire for the city to commission an independent third-party educational impact report as decisions regarding SEDA move forward, similar to what cities do with environmental impact reports.
Dyer has defended SEDA, saying that he doesn’t support sprawl or leapfrog development.
Additionally, he met with district officials in December to quell worries about the development plan.
The district has requested to be included when the city is able to provide updates, according to board documents. And Superintendent Her said she and district staff “extend our hands out ready to work with our city on the redesign and reimagining of this plan.”
(Disclosure: Darius Assemi, GV Wire publisher and CEO of Granville Homes, owns 30 acres of land in SEDA.)
The post Fresno Unified Trustees Approve SEDA Opposition After Heated Public Comment appeared first on GV Wire.
