A recent civil grand jury report appeared to put to bed one of the district\u2019s more prominent 2025 public controversies, by describing an eye-raising payout that triggered backlash, as more of a symptom of a larger problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The report<\/a> issued by the Fresno County Civil Grand Jury found that Fresno Unified employee evaluations and job descriptions need to be overhauled \u2014 highlighting that just 12% of FUSD\u2019s total staff received employee evaluations over the last decade. The district says changes are already in the works.<\/p>\n Originally, the civil grand jury received a complaint regarding funds spent by FUSD to pay a \u201cnon-certified, non-union employee who had resigned.\u00a0<\/p>\n The departure last summer of former FUSD spokesperson Nikki Henry sparked backlash<\/a> over what critics said was a lavish payout for a top district PIO who quit after allowing false, AI-hallucinated information into a district staff document. And while the grand jury report doesn\u2019t mention Henry by name, it ultimately sides with the district, saying the payout followed established policies and procedures.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever,\u201d the report continues, \u201ca related matter surfaced.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was discovered that the school district was not rigorously enforcing its policies and procedures regarding personnel evaluations. The Grand Jury believes that this lack of continuity may have contributed to the original issue.\u201d<\/p>\n In particular, the investigation into FUSD revealed that as few as 12% of the entire district workforce had received an evaluation in the last decade, with employees evaluated at least once every two years. The grand jury also found that the district\u2019s job descriptions need to be updated to reflect new job duties and that there is a lack of performance baselines for employee evaluations.<\/p>\n \u201cFresno Unified has begun implementing efforts to strengthen employee evaluation practices, improve consistency in supervisor training, update job descriptions, and reinforce expectations for timely, meaningful, and consistent performance evaluations across employee groups,\u201d said AJ Kato, the district\u2019s communications manager.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The district said it could not comment on the 12% figure reported by the civil grand jury, saying that since the report does not detail what data it used, the district can\u2019t evaluate the reported statistic.<\/p>\n The district was not immediately able to offer data regarding personnel evaluation completion rates at school sites and central office positions.<\/p>\n Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teachers Association, told Fresnoland that the report\u2019s figure could indicate a disparity in evaluations being done across staffing levels in the district. Bonilla said that, under state law and the union\u2019s own bargaining agreement, newly-hired teachers are evaluated annually and permanent teachers bi-annually.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means this report raises even bigger questions about the evaluation of other employee groups, especially management and central-office administrators,\u201d Bonilla said in a statement.<\/p>\n According to Bonilla, the report reflects a lack of accountability that educators have experienced from upper management. Bonilla also said teachers\u2019 union wants the evaluation process to change.<\/p>\n \u201cA majority of our members say evaluations are too often used as a punitive tool instead of an opportunity for support, reflection and professional growth,\u201d Bonilla said.<\/p>\n The district was not immediately able to offer data regarding personnel evaluation completion rates at school sites and central office positions.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s current staffing goals<\/a> include having all supervisory roles complete training on supervision and evaluation by June 2028, increasing it from 0% from June 2025. It also aims to increase the use of evaluations in decisions to hire, promote, laterally move, or approve extra pay contracts to staff from 0% in June 2024 to 100% in June 2028.<\/p>\n