{"id":141247,"date":"2026-01-20T08:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/141247\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:43:09","slug":"fresno-unifieds-30-million-investment-to-support-students-is-paying-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/141247\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno Unified\u2019s $30 million investment to support students is paying off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fort Miller Middle School students in Fresno Unified play a game of basketball during the school’s new lunchtime sports program. The goal of the program, which started in October, is to provide structured activities when students are out of the classroom. The sports program is one of nearly 30 ways the district is spending $30 million to support students as part of a 2023 agreement with the teachers union. <\/p>\n

Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

Lunchtime at Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno comes with a sense of urgency these days as dozens of students rush through their meals, eager to throw on jerseys and head outside to\u00a0play basketball on the blacktop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three months in, the lunch sports program, with coaching from High Performance Academy, is actively engaging teens, teaching them teamwork and \u201cgiving them something to look forward to,\u201d Principal Eugene Reinor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 30 minutes, they\u2019re locked in and they\u2019re playing. They\u2019re not thinking about anything else but basketball in that moment,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The school will rotate between different team sports each quarter, keeping the teens focused and out of trouble. The program has \u201csolved a lot of problems\u201d for 14-year-old eighth grader Thaddeus Foreman, who got into a fight earlier this year. Now he and the other student get along after playing basketball together, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sports program is one of almost 30 initiatives funded by a $30 million Fresno Unified School District investment in students that was negotiated with the teachers union over two years ago.\u00a0Teachers gained a say in how the district would provide student support and family services. Nearly $25 million later, their efforts have resulted in housing assistance for families, additional food pantries, expanded tutoring, buses for students with disabilities, and much more. The programs have provided essential resources, better engaged students, and addressed the socioeconomic, mental health and physical barriers that affect students\u2019 ability to learn, educators say.<\/p>\n

The three-year investment has given previously unhoused students\u00a0\u201ca fighting chance\u201d to improve their education, Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla said. \u201cWhat needs need to be met,\u201d he said, \u201cso that when our students walk through those gates and into our classrooms, they\u2019re ready to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some initiatives are in the early stages, so Fresno Unified can\u2019t yet quantify whether attendance, engagement and improved well-being \u2014 which the district will track \u2014 can be attributed to program implementation. However, educators see the potential to turn students\u2019 lives around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe part that we won\u2019t see,\u201d Bonilla said, \u201cis how does this change their trajectory?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The investments, centered around students\u2019 basic needs and guided by community input, have also created a model for district leaders and teachers to collaborate for student support. But there are still opportunities to include families and students in ways the district hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Multimillion-dollar investments for the whole child\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Fresno Unified and the Fresno Teachers Association agreed to the $30 million investment in late 2023, they narrowly averted a strike<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers advocated for investments\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers across the country had been leveraging contract negotiations<\/a> to gain resources for students and their families through a process known as bargaining for the common good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only got here because teachers were willing to advocate for those things,\u201d teachers union president Manuel Bonilla said. \u201cThey were willing to strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teachers\u2019 proposal included ideas for academic support as well as \u201ccommon good\u201d practices that address housing and provide basic necessities for disadvantaged students, who make up about 88% of the district\u2019s nearly 70,000 students. Those ideas were based on input from educators and community groups working with students and parents who are most aware of their children\u2019s needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers learned that many students missed school because they didn\u2019t have clean clothes to wear.<\/p>\n

Since early 2023, campus laundry rooms have been installed at every Fresno Unified middle school and at many of the district\u2019s 29\u00a0community schools<\/a>, which are resource hubs for students\u2019 academic, physical, social-emotional and mental health needs.<\/p>\n

Following the community school model, the district\u2019s multimillion-dollar investment will place laundry rooms in half of its 100-plus schools this year, along with more clothing closets and food pantries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen an uptick in attendance for those students that obviously are getting some of their basic needs met,\u201d said Darrin Person, the district\u2019s executive director of community schools, who is coordinating program development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Innovate, expand, continue\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much of the funding went to expanding existing initiatives, allowing more students to participate in nutrition clubs and gardening, or in intramural sports like the Fort Miller lunchtime program, which provides positive, inclusive activities during school or on the weekends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is something that gets students excited to want to come to school, then that\u2019s half the battle,\u201d said Reinor, Fort Miller\u2019s principal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district is also piloting innovative projects, such as a cosmetology and barbering pathway at McLane High School and a music production class at Lincoln Elementary School, where over 40 students in grades fourth through sixth learn from a music producer. Last semester, they sang and played musical instruments for a track, pinpointing sounds that were too low or too loud and determining what should be deleted or remixed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Students at Lincoln Elementary School practice singing on the studio microphone during Lincoln Beats, a new music production class that immerses them in music composition. Studio equipment and musical instruments have been purchased with funds from the $30 million and will soon arrive for students to use. Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

A Lincoln Elementary School student in the school\u2019s music production class plays the violin, one of many instruments students have been using for songs.Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

A Lincoln Elementary School student tries out the guitar, which students have used to make music. Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Lincoln Elementary School students on December 16, 2025, start clapping as they listen to a song they\u2019ve been creating; they plan to add their claps as one of the sound effects on the song.Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

During a December 16, 2025, lesson in Lincoln Elementary School\u2019s new music production class, producer Hector Giovanni Romero highlights differences in making a soundtrack in a classroom with 12 students and doing so in a closed-space studio. Credit: Lasherica Thornton\/ EdSource<\/p>\n

Hector Giovanni Romero, affectionately known as\u00a0Professor G, said the class is an outlet for students to discover and express their creativity. \u201cA lot of kids don\u2019t realize they\u2019re musical because they just weren\u2019t given a chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Funds from the investment also cover senior fees, photos, prom, trips, and events for graduating seniors, ensuring all students have access.<\/p>\n

Foster youth receive peer tutoring, life skills courses, more scholarships, and post-graduation assistance, including supplies for dorm rooms or apartments as they transition to college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the district has been able to continue employing counselors to help graduating students meet the state\u2019s college admission standards \u2014 support that would\u2019ve otherwise ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

costs so far<\/p>\n

After more than two years, Fresno Unified has spent or allocated $24.8 million on projects. The most-funded initiatives, spread over three years, are $6 million for mental health resources through an app called SimpleConnect, $4.8 million for counselors focused on college and career readiness, and $2.3 million to support reading, specifically training literacy specialists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The costs of other programs include:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twenty additional clothing closets as well as food pantries: $950,000<\/p>\n

Nearly 30 additional washer and dryer sets: $600,000<\/p>\n

Music production programs at Lincoln Elementary School and Fort Miller Middle School: $600,000<\/p>\n

Foster youth supports: $550,000<\/p>\n

Senior fees and events: $250,000<\/p>\n

Cosmetology\/barbering pathway at McLane High School: $100,000<\/p>\n

Lunchtime sports program at Fort Miller Middle School: $67,500<\/p>\n

Since the $30 million came as a result of contract negotiations, the district anticipates ongoing funding for the programs coming up during negotiations later this year.<\/p>\n

Supporting students, engaging families\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nydia Hern\u00e1ndez said her daughter didn\u2019t receive much social-emotional or mental health support as a kindergartner or first grader at Winchell Elementary School. She struggled to get her daughter to engage in class.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have to sit in class with her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now in second grade, her daughter started seeing the school therapist and a social worker, but it isn\u2019t enough, Hern\u00e1ndez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks to the investments, a free mental health app has been available since August, not just for students but for the entire household. The app gives families 24\/7 access to mental health services, including licensed counselors, free sessions, resources for behavioral health needs, emotional support, crisis intervention, and personalized care to supplement what school counselors provide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on initial app data as of September, 243 people had accessed the resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district and teachers union are still negotiating how to spend the remaining $5 million, including programs to keep disruptive students in school rather than suspending them. How to do that could benefit from continued input from parents and students, some say. <\/p>\n

Yolie Flores, the president of Families in Schools<\/a>, a Los Angeles-based organization that works to better engage families in education across the state, said it\u2019s important to continue involving parents, even during program implementation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact will be greater,\u201d Flores said, \u201cif families are at the table developing the solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Miller Middle School students in Fresno Unified play a game of basketball during the school’s new lunchtime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-141247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}