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2004 |
2007 |
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Finances |
· Threatened by state take-over (see Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, FCMAT, Report, March 2005)
· At 1%, reserves were half of State requirements.
· Health benefits = 15% of total revenues, projected to increase to 20%. Unfunded liability of $1.1 billion. |
· Situation much improved by 2006
(see FCMAT Report, February 14, 2006)
· Three consecutive unqualified (“clean”) audits.
· Reserves now at 4.5%.
· Health benefit costs contained. Unfunded liabilities about $740 million. A plan to fund this liability over the next 50 years has been approved.
· Balanced 2008-09 budget with no layoffs or program cuts.
· $40 million, including federal categorical carryover dollars, reallocated to Targeted Improvement Actions.
· Among lowest administrative ratios in state (3.4%).
· District now seen as model of fiscal responsibility
(see Fresno Bee Editorial). |
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Academics |
· 51% of District schools ranked in bottom 10% of the state (see Choosing our Future).
· Music and library programs cut.
· One of every four children proficient in English.
· Every site doing its own thing. Major disconnects between schools – most troubling in a district with high transciency.
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· Second year of academic improvement (8 point gain in API).
· Music and library programs restored in 2005.
· One of every three children proficient in English.
· 2nd Highest Academic Performance Index (API) improvement in the State between 2003 and 2007. Highest improvement for African American students
(see Raising African American Achievement, 2008).
· Aligned instructional system across the district.
· Multiple schools, students and staff have received recognition awards.
· District is in Year 3 of Program Improvement and remains vulnerable to state intervention. |
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Leadership |
· 9 superintendents and 7 CFO’s in 20 years.
· Culture focused on compliance.
· Lack of competence in many key positions.
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· Michael Hanson hired May 2005; contract extension through 2011.
· Culture re-focused on student achievement.
· 70% of central office positions changed.
· 50% of site leadership positions changed.
· Fresno Grand Jury report for 2006-2007 points to elements of dysfunction between the administration and some members of the board of trustees
(see Fresno County Grand Jury Report 06-07). |
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Working Conditions |
· In 2004, Citizens Advisory Group uncovered many areas of dissatisfaction among teachers and classified personnel.
· Lack of planning and insensitivity caused hundreds of temporary teachers to receive pink slips every spring (in 2004, eight hundred such pink slips were issued to teachers, most to be reinstated later in the staffing process).
· Teachers often found it necessary to buy even the most basic school supplies using their own money.
· Kitchen facilities were old an inefficient.
· Employees were driving a very old fleet of school vehicles.
· Many school grounds in poor maintenance. |
· Better planning has resulted in the discontinuation of the spring issuance of pink slips to teachers.
· The District has doubled the funding allowed for classroom and library supplies, adding $1.1 million dollars in the last school year.
· Professional development for teachers and administrators is now more available and more focused on research-based best practices.
· Teacher leaders are part of the leadership team at sites providing input and leadership.
· Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA), reviewed in 2008 by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and Department of Education, now ranked as 'model for the state'
· A new state-of-the-art food nutrition center now offers employees a much superior working environment.
· Significant investment has been made in the school’s vehicle fleet.
· Gardeners have been added. |
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Facilities |
· 21 schools in year-around programs.
· Eleven different school calendars.
· No comprehensive facilities plan. |
· Opening of 4 new schools and adjustment of school boundaries means no more year-around schools.
· One single calendar across the district.
· New central kitchen/nutrition center.
· Comprehensive facilities plan in development. |
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Special
Education |
· Special education program (8,000 students) highly criticized by parents. Assessed by FCMAT as having major deficiencies (see FCMAT Report, Special Education 11-14-06). |
· New leadership implementing recommendations from an independent audit. Two-thirds of recommendations have already been implemented. |
|
Technology |
· Assessed by FCMAT as among worst in the state (see FCMAT Report, Technology12-01-06).
· No hardware or software standardization. |
· Hardware/software standardized across the district.
· First in nation to use mini-laptops.
· New data center, one of largest in California.
· Installed largest fiber-optic network North of L.A., to bring high-speed internet to every school.
more.... |
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Student Conduct |
· The District in 2003 had more elementary school expulsions than all of Los Angeles Unified, which is ten times the size of FUSD. |
· “Character Counts” implemented District-wide.
· Significant reductions in student expulsions and suspensions. |
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Student
Safety |
· Many schools regarded by teachers and parents as unsafe. |
· Implemented all 35 recommendations made by blue ribbon Safety Commission of community and law enforcement leaders
(see Commission on School Safety report, June 13, 2007). |
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Student Drop-outs |
· Reliable drop-out numbers hard to come by. Choosing our Future report shows FUSD drop-out rates much higher than those of high performing districts with comparable demographics. |
· Reliable numbers still hard to come by. Two reports, one from UC Berkeley and the other by the California Department of Education offer widely divergent numbers. Partnership for Urban Education (PUER), comprised of six largest urban districts in California, ranks FUSD as having lowest drop-out rate among the six largest Districts
(see PUER Drop-Out Study, July 2008). By any measure, numbers are still intolerably high
(see Fresno Bee Editorial July 18, 2008). |
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Parental and Community Engagement |
· Some effective programs at individual schools, but no comprehensive approach. |
· New Community and Family Engagement Network (CFEN) aims at effective engagement of all community stakeholders.
· Johns Hopkins University recognizes CFEN and three district schools, Phoenix, Terronez and Bullard Talent as national best practices.
more..... |
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Strategic
Planning |
· No strategic planning process in place. |
· “Roadmap to Excellence” – interlocking, interdependent board policies now drive planning, development, implementation and evaluation.
· District holds quarterly Cycle of Review meetings to assess performance and adjust operations to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. |
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Labor |
· Highly contentious labor relations. |
· Negotiations with Fresno Teachers Association (FTA) yield agreement in May 2005 on health benefits, including Joint Health Benefits Management Board and capping of health care costs.
· After 19 months of negotiations, new 3-year labor agreement reached with FTA in November 2007.
· An American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study reports Fresno Unified teacher labor agreements have the most restrictions on management of fifty largest districts nationwide.
(see AEI study, Teacher Labor Agreements, June 2008). |
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Partnerships |
No District partnerships of note. |
· Broad Foundation/CRSS: “Reform Governance in Action” (one of four urban Districts in the U.S.).
Fresno State: credentialing administrators.
· Long Beach Unified: English Learners, Math and Leadership Development.
· Fresno Business Council: Project Succeed.
· City of Fresno: $2M athletic projects program.
· Hewlett Packard: Mini-laptop design for K-12 students.
· Microsoft:
· Fresno County Department of Child and family Services: improved success for youth in foster care. |