Fresno Unified leader wants district’s $500 million bond to fail. Why?

Like most school bond election campaigns, Fresno Unified’s record-high $500 million bond appeared to be a sleepy affair, attracting seemingly little public opposition.

That changed this week after the president of the Fresno Unified school board urged voters to reject the Measure H school facilities bond, placing her at odds with district leaders who say crumbling campuses badly require the funds.

Susan Wittrup, trustee of the district’s Bullard region, was the lone opposition vote in a 6-1 vote Wednesday by the school board to approve a project list for Measure H.

District officials have said Fresno Unified urgently needs more facility funds for major repairs to its aging school campuses. The $500 million bond, if passed, would prioritize capital funds for projects based on an “equity index” developed by a contracting firm unanimously approved by the school board.

Wittrup said she opposes the bond, which is the district’s largest in history, because she felt the public didn’t have enough opportunities to weigh in on facilities spending priorities. The board president urged voters to defeat the bond, which requires 55% approval, because its project list was not finalized until after residents received mail-in ballots on Monday.

“I cannot support this item because the project list is coming for approval after voting has already started,” Wittrup said at Wednesday’s board meeting. “I do not feel the public has had ample opportunity to participate and ask questions.”

Board trustees initially planned to approve the bond’s project list as part of the consent agenda at its Sept. 25 board meeting, but the item was pulled at the last minute.

The school board voted unanimously in June to place the district’s largest-ever bond on next month’s ballot.

The allocation plan that trustees approved on Wednesday placed schools in the worst condition at the top of the list. These projects would include replacing aging portables, renovating classroom buildings, adding safety features, and reconstructing cafeterias.

The focus on equity, though, means that the bond funds allocated to each trustee area in the district vary widely.

Here’s how much each trustee region would receive:

• Bullard High: $32.7 million
• Edison High: $61.8 million
• Fresno High: $76.3 million
• Hoover High: $67.5 million
• McLane High: $100 million
• Roosevelt High: $97.4 million
• Sunnyside High: $14.3 million
• Districtwide: $50 million

Some projects were left out of the bond’s spending plan to make way for repairs in the neediest schools. For example, a $15 million allocation to the Chandler Aviation program and a $46.5 million project to replace turf, track and lights in several schools were, instead, diverted to other needs at schools in every trustee area except for the Edison region.

If approved by voters, the bond will increase taxes by $25 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, making Fresno Unified homes the highest taxed in Fresno County at $238.86.

Wittrup told The Fresno Bee that she doesn’t understand why Fresno Unified didn’t create a bond oversight committee like neighboring school districts, but instead allowed board members and the teachers’ union to determine much of the bond’s allocation.

“The district cannot even afford the perception of the process being politicized and lack of transparency,” she said. “It’s a 40-year tax increase; the project list should be nailed down before ballots arrive.”

Fresno Unified officials: bond process was transparent

The six other school board members defended the district’s public engagement process and supported the bond’s focus on equity.

Wittrup and other opponents of the bond, which includes Granville Homes developer Darius Assemi, criticized the allocation plan because it would mean some areas, such as the Bullard area, would get less funding than their taxpayers paid into the bond.

Fresno Unified had been planning to ask voters to approve a new school bond since spring 2023 after a district-wide assessment found it needed more than $2.5 billion to improve outdated facilities and replace aging portable classrooms. The district expects to run out of funds from the $350 million Measure M bond approved by voters in 2020 in the next two years.

Between May 2023 and June 2024, the district scheduled three public workshops where staff and trustees discussed project priorities.

The board voted unanimously to hire the RSS Consultant firm to develop an equity index that measured the condition of each school’s facilities and the student outcome return on facility investment. The firm also surveyed families from 93 schools for their input.

“We asked them, ‘What’s preventing your child from being successful? What programs do they need that they’re not currently being provided?’ And the last question was what are your hopes and dreams for future facilities,” said Anton Blewett from RSS Consultants.

The equity tool placed schools into five categories, ranging from “unsatisfactory,” meaning that the school fails to meet educational standards and requires major renovations or replacements, to “excellent/like new.” The data indicated that elementary schools had the poorest facilities and were in the most dire need of repair.

On Wednesday night, before the board voted on the item, Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas proposed that the balance of the $15 million allocated to the Roosevelt High School turf, track and lighting project be used for Lowell Elementary School.

“Not because it’s in my region, but it’s the next project on the equity list,” Jonasson Rosas said at the meeting when the item was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion.

Trustee Valerie Davis, who represents the Sunnyside region, said she supported allocating bond funds based on equity, even if it means her region would get the least amount. The Sunnyside area has the newest elementary, middle and high schools because that’s where the district expanded to reduce overcrowding as its enrollment grew.

“The children need their schools repaired, they need the pipes that don’t break, the asbestos don’t spill out and lead is not in their paint,” Davis told The Bee. “That’s what children need regardless of what area they live in.”

A number of schools that scored “fair” and “good” were also included on the list to comply with ADA requirements, or the site is in good condition overall, but individual buildings need urgent investment.

This is the first time for Fresno Unified to set a specific project list before a bond vote, said Interim Superintendent Misty Her. The board is committed to the equity tool and wants to provide clearer and more transparent information to voters.

A detailed project list is not mandatory for voting. However, most school districts reveal projects and priorities to gain voter support. The nearby Clovis Unified School District announced the projects each school would receive from the new bond $400 million Measure A, but did not specify the amounts.

It’s not a blanket approval for all items on the list. Actual contracts and amounts will still need the board’s approval, said district staff. Details of the projects are subject to change.