Former Fresno Unified trustee remembered as collaborative leader with strong convictions

Janet Martino Ryan served on the Fresno Unified School Board for 12 years during a time of educational and internal turmoil for the district.

When she retired from the board in 2016, she had this message for her fellow trustees:

“We cannot be divided on the board,” she said in an interview with The Bee. “You can have a difference of opinion, but to be so divided, it’s harmful to the overall mission to educate our kids.”

Ryan died Wednesday at the age of 80. Her contributions to the school district, and the city in general, were recalled by current leaders.

“We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of Janet Ryan, a longtime board member whose passion for Fresno Unified students will always set her apart,” FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson said in a statement Thursday.

“She will be missed not only by the Fresno Unified family, but the entire Fresno community,” he said.

In a post on his Facebook page, Nelson described Ryan as “a force for good in every respect of the word!”

“Despite holding her own strong convictions and never avoiding political conversations that required utterance, she was a collaborative leader who worked for the good of all who interacted with her,” he wrote.

That sentiment was echoed by Fresno Mayor Lee Brand. He praised Ryan for her grace and “willingness to collaborate with anyone interested in the common good.“

“In the 20 years that I knew her, Janet always held firm to her convictions and was never afraid to speak her mind, whether the subject was schools or government,” Brand said in a statement.

Ryan was first elected to the school board’s Area 6 in 2004, at a time when the district was facing severe financial problems and a possible state takeover. She was part of the group that hired Michael Hanson as superintendent and she remained a strong supporter of him through his resignation in 2016.

That same year, Hoover High School named its academic building after Ryan, whose area included the school.

“Renaming the academic building for Trustee Ryan will memorialize her outstanding efforts as a Board of Education member, but, more importantly, as an excellent community member,” Hanson said at the time.

Prior to her time on the board, Ryan worked as a substitute teacher in the district and retired from work as the California director for the Concord Coalition, a national group advocating fiscal responsibility with the federal budget.

In lieu of flowers, the Ryan family has requested that donations be made to the Fresno Unified School District Scholarship Fund, the district said.

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 10:41 AM.