This story was originally published by Fresnoland.
Fresno Unified students missed new literacy target goals, but Superintendent Misty Her insisted during her school board presentation Wednesday that schools still are moving in the right direction.
The results announced Wednesday from small samples of student iReady scores appear to be in line with the district’s latest SBAC scores released earlier this month that also showed test scores climbing but at a slower pace.
Early literacy scores were 5.3% off, Her said. About 52% of the sampled test scores met proficiency standards, short of the district’s target goal of 58.7%. The district’s overall goal is to increase its early literacy proficiency rate to 80% by the summer of 2030.
iReady is a digital assessment that Fresno Unified uses to test students on English Language Arts. iReady assessments have faced scrutiny and criticism over the years.
Her said that while the district didn’t meet its literacy goal, strategies and tools to help educators share best practices, receive professional development and identify areas of need for student support.
“I do want to remind the board and community that at the end of last year, we exceeded our kindergarten foundational skills assessment target of 62.5%, with 70% of our kindergartners meeting their foundational skills,” Her said, adding, “so we expect that our fall administration of iReady to reflect higher results in first grade, based on where last year’s kindergarten students were.”
Out of 66 elementary schools, 22 schools were on track with the district’s early literacy target while 44 schools fell short of the district goal. In the district’s annual plan for the current school year, it notes having a future target of 64% by June of 2027, 69% by June of 2028, 74% by June of 2029 and 80% by June of 2030.
When broken down to the school site level, Muir Elementary achieved the highest percentage of literacy proficiency among its first graders, clocking in at 88.6% out of 44 students tested. Columbia Elementary achieved the lowest rate for the target time frame with a rate of 25% out of 72 students tested.
Her’s presentation also included results for the Spanish version of the iReady results, with Burroughs and Calwa both achieving proficiency rates of 100% for 43 and 32 students tested, respectively. According to the district, Calwa Elementary is Spanish Dual Language Immersion (DLI) site where 1st grade students 90% of instruction in Spanish and 10% in English.
While two thirds of schools missed the district’s annual literacy target, Her’s presentation emphasized that the district’s efforts to pick up momentum now that its plans through 2030 have been outlined through a strategic plan and annual plans.
Her also highlighted Calwa Elementary, whom she noted improved its first grade iReady proficiency rates from 50% in 2024-25 to 64.5% last year and increased overall SBAC ELA proficiency from 24.6% to 45.2% in the last year alone.
“Our teachers are the secret sauce, they believe that all kids can learn at high levels and they are committed to improving their practices,” said Antonio Sanchez, principal of Calwa Elementary.
Prop. 28 funding for arts and music
Wednesday’s board meeting also presented the district’s funding from Proposition 28, state funds that are used to employ staff and acquire materials for arts education programs. Prop. 28 funds are available to districts for three years after being awarded.
According to a district presentation, FUSD has hired 57.3 full-time equivalent positions since 2023 and seeks to hire up to 65 full-time positions using Prop. 28 funding.
Additionally, Fresno Unified reported spending $8.8 million on staffing during the 2025-26 school year and $10.4 million on materials, which included spending from 2023-24 funds.
For the 2026-27 school year, FUSD is estimating an allocation of $13,796,650, with $8.9 million of that going into staffing alone. $1.8 million and $8.1 million in funds are rolling over from the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, respectively.
Pesticide use around Fresno schools
A Fresno-area parent group spoke out Wednesday, calling on the district to ban the use of around 50 additional pesticides and chemicals that farmers are allowed to use around rural schools.
Kristina Holmes-McIntyre, co-founder of the Fresno Community Parent Coalition, said that parents have concerns over the use of chemicals on FUSD school sites.
“It’s our understanding that there are about 50 chemicals that the school is using, 35 which are banned by other countries,” Holmes-McIntyre said during the meeting.
At the same time, Holmes-McIntyre thanked Superintendent Her and Deputy Superintendent Ben Drati during the meeting for being open to the group’s concerns and feedback.
Part of the feedback asks the district to make its pesticide notifications to parents more apparent and for a parent form to request information about pesticide applications at their schools to be digitized for more accessibility.
HVAC issues at Rowell Elementary
Meg Wunder, a library media tech at Rowell Elementary, spoke during FUSD’s meeting and asked the board to replace the library’s 55-year-old HVAC system.
Wunder said that Rowell had previously been renovated in the early 2000s when Measure K funding was available then. Those renovations did not extend to the HVAC system in the library building, which Wunder explained is so inefficient and old, district maintenance workers have to manufacture parts for repairs because the machines are no longer made.
“And just so you know, I don’t care about the frizzy hair, I care about having to replace another copy of ‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ because it’s growing mildew,” Wunder said.
Previously, Fresno Unified received over $700 million in federal pandemic relief funds in 2021 and committed to implementing High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in every classroom, but a year after, no filters had yet been installed, even as students attended class during peak wildfire season.