Fresno Unified trustees will meet Wednesday to discuss superintendent finalists. What’s not clear is whether trustees will announce the next superintendent or whittle the list.

Fresno Unified Board President Valerie Davis previously told GV Wire they would likely select the new superintendent Wednesday. After GV Wire published the names of applicants Friday, district spokesperson Nikki Henry said those candidates were not finalists and that the board would announce the finalist or finalists Wednesday.

In addition, GV Wire reported last week based on interviews with multiple sources that interim Superintendent Misty Her will succeed Bob Nelson as superintendent.

However, one thing is clear: Board members will not conduct a public forum of the top candidates even though community members and leaders are calling for that very thing.

Many executive search firms say getting good school superintendents requires keeping the names of candidates, sometimes even finalists, confidential.

Diego Arambula, vice chair of the CSU Board of Trustees and vice president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, has done numerous superintendent searches. He wasn’t surprised that the board decided to keep the search closed.

“Most districts that I’ve had a chance to watch go through this have had a closed search because otherwise they just fear they’re going to get no great external candidates,” Arambula said. “You either find someone who’s either currently out of a job and so isn’t worried about it, or you just lose people who might be great candidates.”

But community leaders say an open search process is essential given the board’s past desire to keep the superintendent search behind closed doors.

Retired Fresno County Judge Robert Oliver has served on several selection committees, including the search for a Fresno State president. He described the process as “unclear and confusing.” He said the public should be able to expect a thorough search with a list of finalists.

“We’re just looking for a selection of a person who hopefully will bring a new life and a new day to the unified school district challenge,” Oliver said. “This is a 74,000-or-so student, 10,000-or-so employee organization. I think it’s fair to say, without being overly critical, that the current leadership has not succeeded in making the necessary change to improve the standing of the students in the district.”

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Community Didn’t Ask For an Open Forum: FUSD

In Texas, most districts don’t share names until they’ve found a lone finalist, said Susan Enfield, former superintendent of Washoe County School District in Reno and current executive director of The Network of Distinguished Educators.

Washington State districts typically release the names of the final two or three candidates once trustees have decided.

“ Confidentiality is quite common as part of the search process for superintendents— mainly because sometimes those individuals applying are sitting leaders. That said, the process varies from district to district and state to state,” Enfield said.

In Texas, most districts don’t share names until they’ve found a lone finalist, Enfield said. Washington State districts typically release the names of the final two or three candidates once trustees have decided.

However, more and more, districts are opening up their search processes, including open forums with finalists. So much so that every one of the outside finalists applying to become Fresno Unified’s new superintendent has participated in one elsewhere — either taking questions from board members or from the community before getting the job.

Henry said the public had a chance to ask for a public forum but never did.

“The board brought the superintendent search timeline to open session for comment and feedback multiple times,” Henry said. “This was never brought about as a request by the public. The board will stick to the search plans they transparently voted on in open session.”

But the record shows that Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla talked about the importance of open search — including an open forum — several times going back at least to April 2024. That’s when a majority of trustees wanted to keep the search internal.

Many community leaders GV Wire spoke with say that with Fresno Unified’s failing student outcomes an open search is essential. Bonilla said it gives the public confidence that their choice was indeed the best.

“(Trustees) had an opportunity to regain trust in the community and to their employees by going through a very transparent process,” Bonilla said. “Because they didn’t, now it leaves a lingering process and it leaves a lingering doubt in the selection of Misty (Her). And that’s not fair to her, it’s not fair to the district, to its employees.”

Open Forum Best Serves the Community: District Employees

Bonilla wrote in an email to trustees on behalf of Fresno Teachers Association in April 2024 that by not being transparent and inclusive, the board opens the door to accusations of backroom deals and political maneuvering.

“They must commit to opening the search to all qualified applicants and provide a public forum for finalists to present their vision for our district,” Bonilla wrote.

During public meetings that year, multiple community members, including Bonilla, called on trustees to conduct an open forum. Those calls came with applause from the crowd.

“You have to have a process, and a process where those people that are going to be the top two, top three, come back to the community and meet with us and answer some difficult questions. The same problems come up over and over,” said community activist Gloria Hernandez on April 3, 2024.

Employees with Fresno Unified in an question-and-answer forum specifically asked for a community forum. One said the board can’t hide behind confidentiality and then say they’re being transparent.

Henry told them trustees chose not to do a public forum because it could scare away candidates.

“We decided to prioritize a confidential hiring process to ensure we received the most highly qualified candidates out there,” Henry wrote in that email. “Many potential candidates would be current superintendents or executives at other school districts who might not consider applying for the job if there were a public town hall before they were hired.”

All of District’s Outside Finalists Did Public Forums Previously

In 2022, when Calvert County Public Schools in Maryland held its superintendent search, the district held community meetings where the public could hear from candidates directly, ABC 7 reported . That included its current superintendent, Andraé Townsel, who is applying to be Fresno Unified’s superintendent.

Townsel earlier this year also participated in an open forum in Milwaukee Public Schools, according to ABC News WISN .

In December 2024, current Fresno Unified superintendent candidate Thomas Ahart took part in “a marathon of public forums,” according to the Albuquerque Journal . Ahart is a former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, where he served for more than 10 years.

Gustavo Balderas answered questions from the public when he applied to be the superintendent in Oregon’s Edmonds School District in 2020, according to community news site MLT News .

San Diego Unified — the state’s second largest district — took a transparent approach when it searched for a superintendent in 2021-2022. The school board created an advisory committee that held open meetings. The names of the finalists were publicly released, and the district hosted a town hall at which the community could ask questions.

And State Center Community College District trustees recently chose to use an open search process when selecting a new president of Fresno City College . The same approach was used in 2022 after college president Carole Goldsmith was elevated to district chancellor.

Both Clovis Unified and Central Unified held closed searches. Central Unified may do an open search in its upcoming superintendent search, said board trustee Naindeep Singh Chann.

Long Beach Unified, a district very similar to Fresno, kept its search internal. Arambula said the public was largely OK with that because that district has been successful in advancing student outcomes. Arambula said Fresno Unified is not at a place where it could justify keeping its search internal.

“I don’t think anyone can or should look at the results in Fresno Unified and say ‘we’re knocking it out of the park,'” Arambula said. “We have a long way to go to get to really serving our students in the way they truly deserve.”

A Good Search Firm Should Bring Strong Candidates: Arambula

Large districts such as San Diego or Miami have their own pull, Arambula said. Fresno, however, with its billion-dollar budget and 71,000 students, should draw out quality candidates.

But given Fresno Unified’s challenges, they need a superintendent who will stay a long time and not use the district as a “waystop.”

In addition, trustees shouldn’t discount candidates based on the size of their previous districts, Arambula said.

Davis previously told GV Wire that “size and success matters.” Two of Fresno Unified’s candidates come from districts exceeding 30,000 students. To Arambula, districts at that size have the same level of complexity.

“It’s roughly the same amount of complexity, you’re still managing through multiple layers, you still have dozens of schools,” Arambula said.

‘Profound and Dramatic Improvements Are Required At All Levels’: FUSD Board Policy

Fresno Unified’s first board policy says “profound and dramatic improvements are required at all levels of the Fresno Unified School District.” Oliver said the board has not followed through on this.

The district consistently ranks toward the bottom for reading and math in California and nationwide, according to education data.

“By definition, if they are needing to make dramatic and substantial change for improvement, you would be well advised to look outside of the C-suite that has been unable to enact that substantial and necessary platform for improvement,” Oliver said.

GV Wire Senior Reporter David Taub contributed to this story.