{"id":282880,"date":"2026-04-24T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/282880\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:14:09","slug":"fresno-unified-trustees-political-motivations-questioned-over-seda-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/282880\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno Unified Trustees’ Political Motivations Questioned Over SEDA Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fresno Unified School Board is divided over the city of Fresno\u2019s decades-old Southeast Development Area plan, causing tensions between trustees to rise.<\/p>\n

During the board meeting Wednesday night, disagreements arose over the role and jurisdiction of the board\u2019s legislative subcommittee. The dispute appeared to focus on the board\u2019s ability to take a formal stance against SEDA.<\/p>\n

A proposed bylaw amendment would allow the legislative committee, comprised of three trustees, to \u201cadvocate and support legislation that aligns and improves student outcomes, goals, and guardrails.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas made a motion to change what she called some \u201cstrong\u201d language. She proposed to allow the subcommittee to \u201crecommend\u201d support for items \u201cunder the purview\u201d of the district, while recognizing that ultimate authority \u201clies with the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adjustment passed in a 5-2 vote after a tense back-and-forth between trustees. Board President Veva Islas and Trustee Andy Levine labeled the new language \u201crestrictive\u201d and voted against the motion.<\/p>\n

Both Islas and Levine are members of the bylaw subcommittee that first proposed the change in language.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think what we can discuss, what we choose to advocate for, what we hope to bring forward to the broader board support should be restricted in any way,\u201d Islas said.<\/p>\n

Trustees have weighed in on items that aren\u2019t exclusively seen as education, such as immigration and safe routes to school, Levine said.<\/p>\n

But Jonasson Rosas asserted that she wanted to ensure the board remain focused on student outcomes. And, she said, the board should not delegate its advocacy authority to a subcommittee.<\/p>\n

Trustee Valerie Davis felt that the language proposed by Jonasson Rosas was not limiting.<\/p>\n

Fresno Unified Trustees Political Aspirations Questioned<\/p>\n

In late February, the School Board tabled a resolution to oppose SEDA on a narrow 4-3 vote, sparking a mixed reaction from the community.<\/p>\n

The majority \u2014 Jonasson Rosas, Susan Wittrup, Keshia Thomas, and Claudia Cazares \u2014 felt land zoning decisions were outside of the board\u2019s purview.<\/p>\n

Those in favor of the opposition \u2014 Islas, Levine, and Davis \u2014 asserted that the 9,000-acre project would have detrimental effects on district enrollment and resources.<\/p>\n

During the previous meeting, Islas issued a warning: \u201cThreats from the mayor do not deter me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent Fresnoland report<\/a> revealed that Mayor Jerry Dyer, a staunch supporter of the development plan, texted trustees in February urging them to reject the proposed SEDA opposition.<\/p>\n

Now, some trustees\u2019 political ambitions are being questioned. Student trustee Jonaven Souksamlane was the first to directly mention SEDA. And he aimed a pointed question at Jonasson Rosas: \u201cWould this amendment be because of political interests?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonasson Rosas, who previously ran for City Council District 5, denied that she was being motivated by politics. Meanwhile, Thomas is running for the District 3 seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo put in some limiting factor that restricts the legislative committee at a time where there is a potential to bring back up a resolution that would allow us to oppose (SEDA) publicly, I think is a strategy that is very blatant,\u201d Islas said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fresno Unified School Board is divided over the city of Fresno\u2019s decades-old Southeast Development Area plan, causing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-282880","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\/282880","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=282880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}