Summary of the Board of Education Meeting on April 12th, 2023
The April 12th, 2023 meeting of the Board of Education began with the following announcements out of closed session:
- The Board took action in closed session to promote Matt Ward to Instructional Superintendent in School Leadership.
- The Board took action in closed session to promote Rick Santos to Principal at Phoenix Elementary.
- The Board took action in closed session to promote Rosa Contreras to Director in Fiscal Services.
Next, Superintendent Nelson provided a brief report to the Board of Education, including:
- Superintendent Nelson started his remarks expressing his gratitude to our bargaining team and SEIU for reaching a tentative agreement for our next contract period. Superintendent shared his gratitude for the collaborative work and shared the incredible importance of the work our SEIU employees perform to support our students every day.
- Superintendent Nelson then encouraged families again to enroll their eligible 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds in preschool, transitional kindergarten, and kindergarten for the upcoming 2023/2024 school year. Interested families can learn more and enroll online at www.fresnounified.org or visit their neighborhood elementary school.
- Superintendent invited all to please join us at the 15th annual Middle School Tournament of Technology this Saturday at Sunnyside High School. Over 400 Fresno Unified middle school students will square off in five categories: Robotics, Drones, Coding, Video Production, and Design. Competition kicks off at 8:30 at Sunnyside High School. The awards ceremony begins at 1 p.m. in the theater.
- Superintendent Nelson also invited all to join us the following Saturday, April 22nd, for our IdeaFest at Fresno City College. Students will be presenting projects they have been working on all school year, focused around the theme of “Reflection, Recovery, and Reimagination” following the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be held at the Old Administration Building from 11am-3pm.
- Superintendent Nelson then acknowledged April at Autism Awareness (or Acceptance) Month and as National School Library Month. Superintendent Nelson and the Board shared their support for Autism Acceptance Month by wearing their royal blue. Superintendent Nelson also acknowledged and thanked Thomas Nixon for his 27 years of service to our district as he prepares to retire. Tom has been a tireless advocate for libraries, reading, and literacy and has been a strong champion for our Sora Digital Library and building home libraries for our students.
- Last, Superintendent Nelson shared his gratitude to our partners at Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Central Unified, Clovis Unified, Sanger Unified, Fresno Police Department, and the City of Fresno for coming together to participate in a joint traffic safety campaign. These seven public service announcements have started running on all local news channels, with a new PSA airing every few weeks through the end of the school year. Superintendent Nelson shared a few of the PSAs (Fresno Unified, Fresno PD, and Clovis Unified) and encouraged all to share the videos widely.
Next, the Board of Education took the following action on the below consent agenda items:
- Approved Personnel List
- Adopted Findings of Fact and Recommendations of District Administrative Board
- Approved Minutes from Prior Meeting
- Adopted Resolution 23-43, Proclaiming April 2023 as School Library Month
- Adopted Resolution 23-49, Requesting Renewal of Exemption from Definition of School Building for J.E. Young Academic Center, and Fulton Special Education Program
- Approved Appointment to Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee
- Approved Agreement with Break the Barriers
- Approved Agreement with Coach Fleck Consulting
- Approved Agreement with Education & Leadership Foundation
- Approved Agreement with Fresno Chaffee Zoo
- Approved Agreement with High Performance Academy, LLC.
- Approved Multiyear Agreement with Key Government Finance for Updates, Subscriptions, and Support of Core Network Infrastructure, Content Filter, and Firewall
- Approved Multiyear Agreement with Key Government Finance for Updates and Technical Support of District Telecommunications Systems
- Approved Addendum to Agreement with Kincade Productions, LLC.
- Approved Agreement with Michael O’Neill
- Approved Agreement and Piggyback Contract with Tyler Technologies, Inc.
- Approved Award of Bid 23-27, Compostable Meal Trays
- Approved Award of Bid 23-33, Del Mar Elementary School New Multipurpose Building
- Approved Award of Request for Qualifications 23-10, Transportation Services
- Approved Resolutions 23-47 and 23-48 for the Purchase and Sale Agreements and Escrow Instructions for Properties Located Near the Southwest Corner of Kings Canyon Road and Minnewawa Avenue
- Denied Claim GL22-0927-7709
- Ratified Purchase Orders from January 01, 2023 through January 31, 2023 – Primary Report
- Ratified Purchase Orders from January 01, 2023 through January 31, 2023 –Supplemental Report
The Board of Education discussed the below conference/discussion agenda items:
- Presented and Discussed Fresno Unified Global 2030 World Language and Language Expansion
- Publicly Disclosed and Ratified the 2022/25 School Years Negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement between Fresno Unified School District and Service Employees International Union, Local 521
The Board of Education received the following Information or Reports at this meeting:
- Received Proposed Revisions for Board Policies
The next meeting of the Board of Education will be for a workshop on Literacy on Thursday, April 22nd, 2023 at 5pm. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education will be on Wednesday, April 26th, 2023. Complete minutes and agendas are available online at board.fresnounified.org.