This weekend, he said he’ll continue canvassing Area 5 neighborhoods and connecting with community members. They include identifying and working with students who face barriers to success, investing more heavily in early education programs, providing more robust mental health supports, investing in student safety, improving communication with district parents and addressing the burdens teachers face amid staffing shortages. In a written statement to the Ed Lab, Renteria outlined six areas he would prioritize making improvements if elected. He’s emphasized how his upbringing by a single parent helped him learn firsthand the struggle that some district families face. His grandson also attends the school currently. Renteria is a Fresno High graduate, as is his son. His campaign site is Renteria worked in corrections, most recently retiring as a parole administrator for the State of California. He’s going to spend the last days leading up to election day doing the same thing he’s been focusing on since roughly last October, which is going door to door to talk to voters. He told the Ed Lab that his priorities include strengthening the district’s community engagement process, championing more individualized academic student supports and investing in resources to help with student’s mental health needs - all while prioritizing the district’s most vulnerable students. He has also worked with community organizations, such as the multi-faith coalition Faith in the Valley. He grew up in the Fresno High area and attended high school in the district at Edison High, which he said gave him insight into both the good and the inequities in a Fresno Unified education. Levine is a sociology instructor at Fresno State. He did not respond to the Ed Lab’s request for comment. Some of the speakers at Wednesday night’s school board meeting voiced support for Fabela’s candidacy. Mills responded by saying Fabela’s comments reflected “prejudice toward people with disabilities,” as she was using a speech-generating program amid her battle with ALS.
He’s sparked controversy with some of his comments at meetings, including when he questioned whether Mills was fit to represent Area 5 last May. In recent years he’s been a regular attendee of Fresno Unified school board meetings. His campaign site is .įabela is a retired firefighter. This final weekend of the campaign, he’ll be performing with the Joe King band in front of Central Valley Talk on Saturday at 5 p.m. His priorities, if elected, include making catching-up fun for students and providing resources to early development readiness programs like head-start. He wrote to The Fresno Bee’s Ed Lab that he stands out as the only credentialed teacher in the race. Many of those years were at DeWolf Continuation High School. Russ Allen, Andrew Fabela, Andy Levine and Daniel Renteria are the four candidates vying for a seat as trustee.Īllen is a retired high school math teacher, who taught in Fresno Unified for over 27 years.