Fresno Unified faces backlash over administrative reassignments

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Parents, students, and educators are speaking out against a sweeping leadership reshuffle across the Fresno Unified School District that will reassign dozens of school administrators.

The district plans to move five principals and 26 vice principals from their current campuses, including many tenured leaders with years of experience at their respective schools. The changes prompted the teacher's union to organize a press conference Tuesday, bringing together community members concerned about the impact of the moves.

"I have been a part of the Leavenworth family for now three years, and it has taken that time for my family to build the trust with the admin team and for it to be erased in the matter of days without notice," parent Martha Chavez said. "We are very discouraged at this moment."

Critics argue that the reassignments could disrupt stability at individual school sites. Matt Matera, a parent, said the reasoning shared with some school communities has been troubling.

"One district leader recently spoke to parents and teachers at an impacted school and noted that their students should be okay with sacrificing having a great vice principal so that students at other schools can also succeed; now, as a parent, that zero-sum approach is unacceptable," Matera said.

District officials say the personnel shifts are not unusual and are partly driven by vacancies created through retirements and promotions. Dr. Marie Williams, Associate Superintendent of School Performance, said an unusually high number of site leaders exited the system this year.

"This year we just had a really unusually high number of site leaders who, through our PARS retirement, exited the system," Williams said.

Williams said the transitions also created an opportunity to rebalance leadership teams across campuses.

"We just sort of had this landscape where there was an opportunity for us to try and balance out teams. So, sites that lost both of their folks, somebody retired or promoted there was an opportunity to balance out those teams to respond to the needs of our community that we see," she said.

The district maintains it began notifying affected employees in February, with the process continuing through late May. However, union leaders and community members contend that the changes lacked clear communication and input from those communities impacted.

When asked about community involvement in the reassignment process, Williams said it typically does not include consultation.

"That's typically not been a part of a reassignment process, when we're moving principals and vice principals, in the same way that at a school site that a principal has latitude to move a teacher with one day to the next, that principal would make that move and wouldn't involve consultation with the community typically," she said.

Still, Williams acknowledged concerns raised by families and educators and said the district is open to improving its approach.

"Absolutely, we want to have better communication if that's what people feel was a miss in this process," she said.

The debate highlights ongoing tensions between district leadership and school communities as Fresno Unified navigates staffing changes ahead of the upcoming school year.

Now, the union did say they believe these changes are not final and could be reversed, but the district says they are final and that implementation will begin July 1.

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