Fresno Unified School District officials told parents that a sharp drop in enrollment has wiped out more than $123 million in funding since 2018, forcing the board to consider significant budget reductions.
At a workshop on Wednesday, Superintendent Misty Her explained that the district is evaluating a range of options, including closing schools, consolidating dual‑enrollment classrooms, and restructuring elementary and middle schools into a TK‑5 and grades 6‑8 model. “We’re not going to do it all at once, but we’ll take a phased‑in approach with community input,” Her said.
Board trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas emphasized the difficulty of the decisions, noting that language can mask the seriousness of the cuts. “I’m just going to say school closure, program elimination, staff cuts – that is what we’re facing,” she said.
Chief financial officer Patrick Jensen announced the formation of a budget committee that will invite community members to help shape the conversation on school and program consolidation. Applications for the committee will be released later this fall.
Since 2018, the district has lost over $123 million in state funding due to lower enrollment and chronic absenteeism, Jensen said. Attendance rate (ADA) rose slightly to 92.1 % for the 2025‑26 school year, still below the pre‑pandemic level of about 94.8 %. Chronic absenteeism fell about 5 % to 24.1 %, but remains higher than the 15.8 % rate recorded in 2018‑19.
Attendance goals and next steps
Chief academic officer Carlos Castillo presented targets to raise ADA to 94 % by 2028‑29 and reduce chronic absenteeism to 17 %. No specific timeline was given for when the board will announce final decisions on closures or program cuts.
The district stressed that parents and community members will be kept informed throughout the process to avoid miscommunication, especially after recent criticism of cuts to centrally funded field trips.
Original reporting: Fresnoland — read the source article.
