Fresno Unified School District is on the lookout for a new leader, called a superintendent, to run our schools. The school board, a group of important people who make decisions for our schools, decided that they need to look for this new leader from outside our district.
This decision was made on Wednesday by the board trustees, after they canceled interviews they had planned with people who already work in our district. The meeting where they made this decision was very crowded, with lots of people squeezing into the room to speak.
Most of the people who spoke at the meeting asked for complete honesty and for the school board to search everywhere for the new superintendent. This happened just a few weeks after a small majority of the board voted to only consider people who already work in our district for the job.
Some community members at the meeting thought it didn’t make sense to only look within our district for the new superintendent. They said if the best person for the job is already here, they should compete with people from other places who are also interested in being the superintendent.
Miguel Arias, who helps make decisions for the city of Fresno, said he thought the decision to search outside the district was a good step forward. He reminded the board trustees that they are responsible for making choices that will affect the future of all the kids in our city.
Even students came to the meeting to share their thoughts. Some were worried that people were using accusations of unfair treatment based on race to avoid being honest.
Stacy Williams, who lives in our community, said she wants decisions to be made honestly and for everyone’s voice to be heard. She said it’s not enough to just say we have people of different races involved if they’re not really being listened to.
While most people at the meeting wanted the school board to search for candidates from all over the country, some spoke up for the people who already work in our district. But even though the interviews for those candidates were canceled, they can still apply for the job. Now, the search will be open to everyone, no matter where they’re from.
