Councilman wants Fresno to sue FUSD to reopen schools. The superintendent didn’t take it well
Amid growing pressure to reopen schools during the pandemic, a Fresno City Council member and Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson sparred Wednesday morning over a threat to sue the Fresno Unified School District to force it to reopen classrooms.
Councilmember Garry Bredefeld said in a news release Wednesday morning that he intends to place on the Feb. 18 agenda the proposal to initiate a lawsuit and reopen schools immediately during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The FUSD school board and Superintendent Bob Nelson have been complicit in the damage to these children by keeping the schools closed,” Bredefeld said. “No more dithering, no more lack of plans to open, no more bowing before the teachers union or Governor Newsom. Prioritize the needs of our children and open the schools- NOW!”
Nelson took to Twitter to call out Bredefeld’s proposal.
“So how is that current two-party system working for you, Fresnans?” he asked. “Nothing like politicizing an issue as serious as a safe and responsible return to schools in order to rally a support base. The only thing this release lacked was face paint, Viking horns, and a Chewbacca onesie.”
Bredefeld shot back on Twitter: “Pathetic response just like your ‘leadership’ over the past year. Your job is to educate and facilitate the development of 70,000 children. You’ve failed miserably as has your Board. You’ve bowed to union, your Board and ignored kids and their parents pleas for help. Disgraceful.”
Fresno Unified board member Veva Islas also called out Bredefeld on Twitter: “Garry the Grandstander & Gaslighter,” she wrote. “We all want to reopen our schools. We just have more sense than to reopen when it’s unsafe.”
Bredefeld’s legal threats might already be dead on arrival.
Council Vice President Nelson Esparza released a statement calling Bredefeld’s proposal “throwing dirt in the eyes of our education leaders,” and saying the council would not consider the proposal.
He also threatened to remove Bredefeld from the City Council’s School Liaison Subcommittee, which Esparza chairs.
“We all want schools to reopen, but this obviously isn’t the way to do it,” Esparza said.
He urged the council to trust public health and education leaders.
“I think we’re already in real striking distance of seeing schools reopen by the Summer or Fall, because of the steadily decreasing caseloads that could land us in the Orange Tier, and Fresno County being on the verge of making vaccines available to educators in our community,” Esparza said. “There’s no need to detract from the school reopening work that’s already happening, with a frivolous lawsuit.”
Bredefeld noted in his release that there is growing research that shows children are not as affected by COVID and are not significant spreaders of the disease. Gov. Gavin Newsom has cited this research in his push to reopen schools.
In his statement, Bredefeld said children had been “locked out of school for over one year.” Schools closed in mid-March of last year.
“Many are depressed, anxious and socially isolated,” he said, adding that suicide and physical and sexual abuse among children has spiked.
“Children who come from homes with limited economic resources have fallen further behind. Parents have had to give up employment to stay home and many have not been able to provide the academic instruction their children have needed.”
The district released a statement Wednesday about the potential lawsuit: “We want to validate that we ALL want to be back on campus with our Fresno Unified Family – but our return to in-person instruction must be done safely based on our local COVID-19 situation,” said spokespeson Vanessa Ramirez. “Our strategic plan for reopening schools has always focused on the tenets of safety, stability, and high-quality instruction and will continue to do so.”
Ramirez said Fresno County’s case rates are still higher than before winter break, when the district shut down some small cohorts due to COVID-19 exposures.
She said the district has increased its mental health supports “significantly” and has a 24/7 on-call team of psychologists and counselors to respond to mental health emergencies.
City of San Francisco filed suit
The city of San Francisco filed a similar lawsuit on Feb. 3, vowing to open schools to all children. It was the first lawsuit of its kind in California, and possibly the country, according to the Associated Press.
School districts are facing pressure to reopen from parents and the government, but in many cases must contend with teachers unions demanding vaccinations before returning.
Newsom has said he and the Legislature are getting close to a deal to reopen schools and hope to announce a final plan this week. Newsom is in Fresno on Wednesday to announce a new vaccination site.
Although teachers are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine according to the vaccination schedule, Newsom has said it’s unlikely that would happen because there is just not enough supply.
“It’s very unlikely that we’ll be able to accomplish that very idealistic goal before the end of the school year because of the scarcity of supply in vaccinations,” Newsom said during a recent news conference at the new vaccination site at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. “That’s the unfortunate position we’re all in.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 10:31 AM.