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Students and coaches are recognized for achievements at the Clovis Unified School District board meeting Wednesday, April 3, 2024 in Clovis.<\/p>\n
ERIC PAUL ZAMORA<\/p>\n
ezamora@fresnobee.com<\/p>\n
After November\u2019s election, the governing board serving parents and students in the Clovis Unified School District will remain unchanged, as all three incumbents are running unopposed.<\/p>\n
Clovis Unified is a staple in the Central Valley for outstanding academic performance and athletic programs. With a growing student population of 43,200, it\u2019s now the 11th-largest school district<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n In contrast to many other large school districts in California, which are struggling with budget shortfalls due to declining enrollment, Clovis Unified enjoys a stable financial position and continues to build schools to meet the needs of families moving into the area.<\/p>\n The district is also unique as it\u2019s considered the largest non-unionized school district west of the Mississippi River since the founding superintendent, Floyd Buchanan, established a deep-rooted anti-union culture. But the situation may soon change.<\/p>\n In the summer, over a thousand teachers filed a union petition<\/a> with the state\u2019s Public Employment Relations Board, a move that could end the district\u2019s 66-year \u201cunion-free\u201d history.<\/p>\n The Fresno Bee talked to three incumbents, who shared their goals and priorities for the next four years.<\/p>\n Area 1: Clinton Olivier<\/p>\n Olivier is nearing the end of his first term. Joining the school board in 2022, Olivier previously served as a councilmember on the Fresno City Council for eight years. He\u2019s currently the chief executive officer for the Central Valley Business Federation, and often appears on radio as a fill-in host.<\/p>\n The highlights of the last four years include hiring Corrine Folmer to lead the district following the retirement of former Superintendent Eimear O\u2019Brien, and addressing the homelessness<\/a> issue around Pinedale Elementary, Olivier said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere had been incidents with them threatening kids. They were coming onto the campus and causing vandalism, leaving trash on the campus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He was very proud to be able to leverage his connections at the Fresno City Council and the Fresno Police Department to work together to provide relief to the neighborhood, since Pinedale Elementary is located in the City of Fresno.<\/p>\n In the next term, he will continue to be responsive to neighbors and carry their concerns to the board, where the community can fix those issues, Olivier said.<\/p>\n Olivier said he has been very happy with Folmer\u2019s performance as the superintendent, and he\u2019s pleased that the district will have solid and continuous leadership during his second term.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to continue to focus on test scores. They\u2019re still not where I would like them to be coming out of the pandemic,\u201d Olivier said. \u201cThere\u2019s still some recovery to be done in terms of getting those test scores back up and combating any learning loss that occurred during the lockdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n He will support the upcoming facilities bond because it brings value that families expect.<\/p>\n \u201cI have always been skeptical of the government\u2019s bonding to get things done. But I have seen firsthand that the people in Clovis Unified are doing it right,\u201d Olivier said. \u201cTaxpayers continue to approve bonds for Clovis Unified because they see the result of correct fiscal management, in addition to a beautiful finished product.\u201d<\/p>\n Area 3: Tiffany Stoker Madsen<\/p>\n Madsen was a Clvosi Unified student for all of her schooling and graduated from Clovis West as valedictorian. After earning degrees from Brigham Young University and U.C. Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, she practiced labor and employment law. She\u2019s now a mother of five Clovis Unified students.<\/p>\n Madsen was elected to the governing board in 2018 and is running unopposed for her third term. She\u2019s the current board president<\/a>.<\/p>\n With each decision, Madsen said she asked herself three questions: What is best for students? How does it impact teachers and staff? Will families and community support it?<\/p>\n The tough decisions in her eight-year tenure include combating burdensome mandates from Sacramento that stifle student achievement and ensuring teachers have the tools to elevate students, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a Clovis Unified alumni and parent, I believe in our mission of educating children through mind, body, and spirit and will lean on our district and community values to prepare our next generation of leaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Madsen said local control is her priority, such as local control of curriculum and classroom teaching, she said.<\/p>\n In her next term, she will also continue to advocate for transparency, support parental involvement in education, and expand vocational education programs, she said.<\/p>\n Area 6: Deena Combs-Flores<\/p>\n Combs-Flores brought two decades of teaching and school administrative experience to the governing board.<\/p>\n Assuming office in 2022, Combs-Flores said the most challenging task during her first term was redrawing school attendance boundaries. The district built the Terry Bradley Education Center because Clovis East High School was overcrowded, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you can\u2019t do that every single time that you have overcrowding in a school, you also have to look at ways to balance things out,\u201d she said. \u201cThe district is very good at having community panels or doing community surveys to make sure that we have a consensus among our stakeholders. I thought they did a good job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n At board meetings, Combs-Flores is one of the trustees who asks a lot of questions. She told The Bee that her considerations were primarily based on cost-effectiveness.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other thing that absolutely drives my decision-making is that, is this really a decision we need to be making? Or is this a decision that, for example, maybe the teachers need to make, with the unionization?\u201d she said. \u201cBut in the end, what drives our decisions too, is whether it\u2019s best for kids. That\u2019s who we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n In her next term, Combs-Flores said she will continue to try to do her best for students and families, including advocating for parental rights and supporting a new bond to fund new schools. She said she\u2019s very conservative and normally doesn\u2019t support new taxes, but this is the only way to fund school facilities.<\/p>\n Recently, Combs-Flores left school teaching and now works at a private curriculum company. She said she might consider retiring in the next few years, but she\u2019s still very passionate about being an elected official.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of people out there that complain about government, but the only two ways you can truly have a say are voting, and number two, getting involved with public office,\u201d Combs-Flores said. \u201cSo that\u2019s my way to contribute to society and to the community. So far, I think the majority of the people that I\u2019ve talked to, they\u2019ve been happy with me as a board member.\u201d<\/p>\n