Education Lab Newsletter

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Monday marked the start of early voting for several Fresno-area school board seats up for election this November.

Thirteen people are on the ballot for the four Fresno Unified School Board seats with terms that end this year. Those seats represent the Edison, Sunnyside, McLane and Bullard High School areas.

The Bee’s Education Lab contacted all 13 candidates to learn about their backgrounds and goals if elected. The Ed Lab also tracked campaign finance records to see who’s funding each candidate and how much each has raised from the start of 2021 to now.

The totals included are the sum of each candidate’s monetary contributions, such as donations and loans received, and their non-monetary contributions, like campaign signs. Money spent by each candidate has not been subtracted from these totals.

For incumbents running for re-election, these totals from 2021 to now may not account fully for contributions rolled over from 2018 campaigns or received in 2019 or 2020. Candidates who don’t raise or spend more than $1,000 on their campaigns don’t have to provide detailed disclosure of contributions or expenditures, so not all candidates have donors or specific totals identified.

The Ed Lab also tracked key endorsements for each candidate. School board seats are nonpartisan, but several candidates have received endorsements from Fresno political parties or organizations and elected officials in partisan offices.

Read below for an overview of the candidates in the races for the Edison-area and Bullard-area seats.

On Wednesday, we’ll publish overviews for candidates in the Sunnyside and McLane areas.

Meet the Edison-area candidates

Two candidates, Wayne Horton and Keshia Thomas, vie for the school board seat representing Fresno Unified’s Trustee Area 1, which encompasses the Edison High region.

Horton, the challenger in this race, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. He has no occupation designated on the ballot, and has been endorsed by the Fresno County Republican Party. He does not appear to have met the $1,000 threshold to provide detailed disclosure of campaign contributions or expenditures, according to Fresno County Clerk’s Office records.

Thomas, the incumbent, is a former Fresno Unified teacher. She was first elected to the board four years ago, but is “not done yet,” she told the Ed Lab.

She said her top concern, if re-elected, would be bringing students up to grade-level with math and reading.

She said her trustee area faces issues with racism, equity and the impacts of COVID-19, which she plans to address by making herself accessible to students, parents and staff.

Thomas has been vocal about racism in the district.

In May, she held a news conference at Edison amid the fallout from the photo taken in Bullard High School’s weight room showing a student in what appeared to be a makeshift Ku Klux Klan hood. Thomas called for a commission to create better policies to protect students of color in Fresno Unified and invited students from Edison’s and Bullard’s Black Student Unions to share their experiences.

Thomas has publicly accused Bullard football coach Don Arax of using a racial slur against her son. Arax is now suing her and Fresno Unified for defamation.

Thomas said she’s been endorsed by fellow trustees Valerie Davis, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas and Claudia Cazares. Thomas has received the support of local politicians including Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez and local organizations like Black Women Organized for Political Action and the Service Employees International Union.

One of her top donations is $1,500 from the Central Valley New Markets Tax Credit fund. She’s raised approximately $4,300 in campaign contributions since 2021.

Meet the Bullard-area candidates

In one of Fresno Unified’s most crowded races, four candidates — James Barr, Michael Haynes, Terry Slatic and Susan Wittrup — are competing for the Bullard-area seat, also known as Trustee Area 7.

Barr is a teacher at Fresno Unified’s J.E. Young Academic Center, an independent study high school campus. He has several years’ teaching experience at different levels in districts around the Central Valley, including Central Unified. He’s a Navy veteran.

This is his second shot at the Bullard-area seat, after an unsuccessful bid in 2006.

He said one of his top concerns is with the treatment of Fresno Unified’s employees and believes that working them to their “wit’s end” isn’t in the best interest of students. He also wants to work with the district’s Human Resources department to improve hiring processes to help combat shortages of bus drivers, paraeducators and other staff.

Barr said that teachers deserve to work in a “safe and sane environment” and would advocate for sending disruptive students to his J.E. Young campus where they can be better served in a smaller venue.

He voiced support for Bullard Principal Armen Torigian and his controversial cellphone ban, but said that he personally prefers a policy of cooperation rather than total prohibition.

He stressed to the Ed Lab that he wasn’t offered any campaign support from any unions. He believes union members enjoy excellent salaries and benefits and should “earn them.”

He does not appear to have met the $1,000 threshold to provide detailed disclosure of campaign contributions or expenditures, according to Fresno County Clerk’s Office records.

Haynes is a recently retired campus safety assistant with Fresno Unified, a role he served in for over three decades. He’s a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an alum of Fresno Unified schools and the California State Police Academy.

He told the Ed Lab one of his top concerns is the safety of students and staff. He supports the presence of armed police on FUSD campuses, which has been the subject of debate in the district over the past couple years in particular.

In addition, he said he’d work to improve the quality of school cafeteria food, increase tutoring services for students who are behind on math and reading and improve retention of teachers by supporting fair hiring and promotion practices.

Haynes said he’s been endorsed by the California School Employees Association Chapter 125, which represents campus safety assistants, paraprofessionals and other staff. He was the chapter’s president in 2015.

He does not appear to have met the $1,000 threshold to provide detailed disclosure of campaign contributions or expenditures, according to Fresno County Clerk’s Office records.

Slatic, the incumbent, declined the Ed Lab’s request for comment. He’s a retired major with the Marine Corps.

In his past four years on the board, he’s been vocal about the need to invest in bringing students up to grade level in reading and math. He’s also advocated for investments in campus safety measures — including the presence of armed police on campuses and improved fences, both of which have sparked debate in the Fresno Unified community.

Slatic has been at the center of several controversies.

He has been formally censured by the school board twice. The first time was following a series of incidents on Bullard’s campus, including one in which Slatic was caught on camera grabbing a student’s backpack. The second time was after an outburst at a board meeting that led then-board president Valerie Davis to cut the meeting short.

Fellow board members have accused him of racism multiple times, which he has denied.

Slatic has filed at least two complaints with the Public Integrity Unit of the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, accusing FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson and other board members of violating California’s Education Code. The DA’s office concluded there was no evidence of the allegations in Slatic’s first complaint in January.

His top donation so far is $5,000 from insurance broker and KMJ host Michael Der Manouel Jr. Slatic has raised roughly $18,850 in contributions since 2021.

Wittrup is a recently retired school psychologist in Fresno Unified, after working in the district for decades. She also is credentialed in special education. She referred the Ed Lab to her campaign site in response to requests for comment.

Her top goals include engaging parents and teachers in the district’s decision-making processes, holding the administration accountable for student achievement, and recruiting the “best and brightest” teachers for FUSD, according to her website.

The first-time political candidate received a slew of endorsements from Fresno elected officials, including Sheriff Margaret Mims and Mayor Jerry Dyer. The Fresno County Republican Party and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have also thrown their support behind Wittrup.

Other local organizations, including the Fresno Teachers Association and the Fresno Police Officers Association, have endorsed her.

Darius, Farid and Farshid Assemi — three brothers who are influential land developers, growers, philanthropists and digital publishers in Fresno — have all endorsed and donated to Wittrup’s campaign. Her largest donation so far is $15,000 from Granville Homes, the real estate company owned by Darius Assemi. Wittrup said she’s been in a romantic relationship with Darius Assemi “for years.”

Wittrup has received more contributions than all the candidates in all four Fresno Unified races this November combined with a total of roughly $163,247 since 2021.

How to vote

Early voting is already underway for the Nov. 8 election and can be done at the Fresno County Clerk’s Office, located at 2221 Kern St.

Select in-person vote centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Oct. 29.

All voting centers will be open starting Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — or 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. The Fresno County Clerk’s website provides an interactive map of polling places and drop boxes.

Not sure whether you’re registered yet?

You can check your registration online via the Secretary of State’s website by visiting voterstatus.sos.ca.gov. All you need to enter is your name, birthday, your driver’s license/state ID if you have one, and/or the last four digits of your Social Security number if you have one. You can also sign up for updates on the status of your vote-by-mail ballot on this portal.

If you’re not registered to vote yet, you can do so online or via mail. The last day to register for the November election is Oct. 24. More information can be found by visiting the SOS website.

Still have questions? You can contact the clerk’s office at 559-600-8683 or visit its website.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.