A new advocacy group announced Friday that it wants voters to decide whether to split Fresno Unified into smaller districts.

Members of Reform Fresno Unified say redrawing the district into at least two districts will help stem the tide of truancy and dropouts. They plan to launch their campaign with a news conference at FUSD headquarters Monday.

The group plans to lobby the Fresno County Office of Education to split the district or campaign to put a ballot measure before voters. It was unclear Friday how many signatures supporters would need to get a referendum on the ballot.

One of the group's leaders, Javier Guzman, will pitch the formation of a 15-member dropout commission at the district's Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday.

Guzman, the Chicano Youth Center director who pitched a similar proposal two years ago, said the commission's goal would be to schedule hearings around the city and "give recommendations to the district and the state." He said the commission would be independent of the district and be made up of doctors, lawyers, school officials and parents.

"I want to get a recommendation that Fresno Unified is a low-performing district and get resources targeted to areas that need it the most," Guzman said. "I want them to post publicly on a billboard how their schools are performing with the dropout rate. It's the most important civil rights issue of the 21st century."

It was unclear Friday who else is in the group. Guzman and group spokeswoman Marcie Williams said the members include Assembly Member Henry T. Perea.

But when contacted by The Bee, Perea said he hadn't worked with Guzman for two years and has mixed feelings about splitting the district.

Guzman later clarified, saying he pitched the idea to Perea at a holiday party this week. "He didn't indicate he wasn't in support," Guzman said.

Other elected officials named by Guzman as supporters included Fresno City Council Member Blong Xiong, who said he had heard of the group but wasn't affiliated with it.

Only Guzman and Williams could be confirmed as members Friday. Others named by Guzman, including Chicano Youth Center board members and former Kerman mayor Trinidad Rodriguez, could not be reached for comment.

Williams, who was active in air quality issues in the Valley for many years, now lives in Tennessee. She said she came back to Fresno this week to work on Reform Fresno Unified's campaign.

"I decided this was important," she said, without elaborating.

Wednesday's board presentation marks the second time Guzman has tried to pitch a dropout commission to the district. In a series about the district's dismal dropout rate published last month in The Bee, Guzman said that Superintendent Michael Hanson had blocked his effort to form a commission in 2009.

Wednesday's FUSD board meeting is the first since the series published. Guzman will ask the board to endorse his proposal.

"I want them to accept the concept – I'm not asking them for any money," he said.

Guzman said he will ask California lawmakers to form a dropout commission if the district doesn't.

The idea of splitting Fresno Unified has been raised before. In April, a group of Bullard High parents campaigning for secession from Fresno Unified tried unsuccessfully to enlist support from Fresno High parents to form a separate district.

The group is known as Bullard Pride.

On Friday, Bullard Pride member Chuck Manock said he is not part of Reform Fresno Unified and "had no idea" if other Bullard Pride members were in the group.

"We know about them, we support them, but we're not affiliated with them," he said. "We're going to sit on the sidelines and see where things go."