Good news for two of three Fresno school board incumbents, and $500 million bond | Opinion
Not much will change when it comes to overseeing the Fresno Unified School District with the expected reelection of two incumbents.
What will be new are renovated campuses, thanks to voter approval of Measure H, which will inject $500 million to help repair and update district schools.
However, one incumbent, Hoover area Trustee Claudia Cázares, trailed retired teacher Daniel Bordona, 51.63% to 48.27%, when the fresults were updated by the Fresno County Elections Division on Tuesday.
There was still a chance that Cázares, who was first elected in 2016, can make up the 225-vote shortfall with about 72% more ballots waiting to be counted.
The state's third-largest school district does voter approval at 60.37% for a $500 million general obligation bond.
Incumbents Elizabeth Rosas Jonasson (Roosevelt area) and Andy Levine (Fresno High area) are in good position to select the next superintendent and make sure the bonds are put to good use.
Measure H, which needs 55% of the vote to pass, had voter approval although trustees waited until the last minute to explain how the general obligation bond money will be spent. Fresno Unified officials asked voters to support the new bond, and it will be up to the trustees to make sure the district makes good use of addressing the needs of its older schools.
We implore the trustees to focus on improving student achievement in reading and math, which remains a major challenge. U.S. News & World Report found that 44% of high school students meet proficiency in reading and 14% in math.
We endorsed Jonasson because of her aggressive approach on making sure the district's hundreds of programs generate "an academic return on investment." She acknowledges the movement has been slow, but has marked it as a top priority.
With 15.9% of the ballots counted, Jonasson had 69% of the vote to challenger Joseph C. Aquino's 30.6%. That appears to be a safe margin.
Likewise, Levine jumped out to a big advantage over two challengers with 47.1% of the votes with about 28% of the ballots counted. James Martínez, a trustee with the Fresno County Board of Education, trailed with 28.3%, followed by Emma Villa with 24.6%.
Levine raised a solid $54,106 for his campaign, but faced Martínez's $102,950.
"I am, after these first two years, 100% certain that this is where I want to make my mark and have my legacy," said Levine, who won our endorsement. We believe he is a smart choice for the board.
Cázares had $10,873, while Bordona raised $79,000 and had the support of the Fresno Teachers Association.
The district estimated a $2.5 to $3 billion need to fulfill all the repairs, according to a 2023 district-wide facility assessment. School board president Susan Wittrup and other local officials, including Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, had encouraged a no vote on the measure.
Good thing the voters have the sense to make sure the schools that serve a student population that is 69.5% Latino and 10.6% Asian have the money to make sure facilities are up to par.
