Good morning! It’s Monday, Jan. 26. This is Rob.
😶🌫️Well my west-central Fresno neighborhood is bright and sunny this morning, our daily dense fog advisory expires at 11 a.m. today. Highs in the 60s.NOAA
🤵The Foundation for Fresno Unified Students has expanded its suit drive initiative to ensure year-round supply of professional attire for students preparing for interviews, internships and post-secondary opportunities. Foundation for Fresno Unified
💪The Fresno City College Social Justice Institute and the Central Labor Council’s Empowerment Institute are hosting a Working Class History workshop on Thursday, Jan 29 from 5:30-7:30p.m. at the college’s Old Administration Building, Room 114. Dinner is provided.
1. Fresno Unified investments paying off
Credit: Julianna Morano / Fresnoland
It’s been nearly three years since Fresno Unified narrowly avoided a teacher’s strike by agreeing to a $30 million package of investments in student and family support services.
EdSource reports that money has since funded nearly 30 separate initiatives, including housing assistance, additional food pantries, more tutoring and buses for students with disabilities, among others.
While some of the programs remain in the early stages and district officials say it’s too soon to tell how effective they have been, educators who spoke with EdSource say they see the potential ahead.
The district has tried to center investments around students’ basic needs — guided by community input — and have built a model for district leaders and teachers to collaborate.
Campus laundry rooms have been installed at every Fresno Unified middle school and at many of the district’s community schools.
Darrin Person, the district’s executive director of community schools: “We’ve seen an uptick in attendance for those students that obviously are getting some of their basic needs met.”
2. Harness horse racing comes to the Big Fresno Fair
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The Big Fresno Fair recently announced that harness racing will return to Fresno for the first time in more than 100 years, the Business Journal reports.
The deal, approved through a partnership with Watch and Wager, LLC, makes Fresno the only approved venue for live harness racing in California.
Harness racing features standardbred horses pulling two-wheeled carts called sulkies. Drivers guide the horses rather than riding them as jockeys.
Racing will primarily take place on weekends at the Brian I. Tatarian Grandstand, with final licensing approval expected at the CHRB’s September 2026 meeting.
Christina Estrada, CEO of The Big Fresno Fair: “This represents a significant step forward for horse racing in Fresno. The return of harness racing continues our longstanding tradition of live horse racing that dates back to 1884, while also driving positive economic impact and community engagement.”
3. Fresno schools aren’t ready for whole milk
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Fresno County’s largest school districts aren’t about to go along with the new — and contested — guidelines from the federal government to return whole milk to the student cafeterias.
The Fresno Bee reports that Fresno, Clovis and Central Unified schools say they will continue to follow California’s guidelines — and not Washington D.C. — and continue serving 1% and flavored nonfat milk options.
The debate over whole milk was spurred by the Make America Healthy Again movement and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Obama Administration eliminated whole milk from schools in 2012 amid childhood obesity concerns.
A spokesman for the California Department of Education told The Bee that it’s a “local decision for a school to offer whole milk at lunch.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
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