Clovis schools face ‘mountain of obstacles,’ including staff shortages, superintendent says

As the sun rose in Clovis on Thursday morning, Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell spoke before a crowd about the ups and downs the Clovis Unified School District has faced during the past year and a half, including staff shortages, health mandates and the joy of seeing students back in school.

“There’s no denying it’s been a rough year and a half,” she said.

Held outside at the Buchanan High School softball complex, this year’s State of the District breakfast was a return to sort-of normalcy for O’Farrell and administrators after the event was held online last year due to the pandemic.

This year, O’Farrell noted positives for the district: Measure A, the $335 million bond passed last year, is already being used to build new schools. The Terry Bradley Educational Center will house an elementary, intermediate and high school, and is expected open to intermediate students in 2025.

She also touched upon the struggles the district has faced during the last few months. Groups of parents have begged the district to defy state health orders such as masking and vaccine requirements for children, and trustees have voiced support for local control and parent choice, but have told parents they are bound by the law.

“There has been a mountain of obstacles. Staying abreast of the requirements of the CDC, CDE, CDPH, AAP, Cal/OSHA, CIF, just to name a few,” O’Farrell said, rattling off acronyms for health and safety and athletic organizations which have had schools scrambling to comply with their guidelines.

She added, lightheartedly, “Thank goodness they’ve all been on the same page and in total agreement with each other, and with utter clarity. That made it all so much easier to navigate, right?”

O’Farrell acknowledged the district was an outlier when most schools were keeping students at home last year.

“Clovis Unified was out front the entire time, chipping away at those obstacles, finding a way to bring our kids and our employees home safely to our Clovis Unified family,” she said. “It has been some journey.”

O’Farrell said although employees put in much hard work, things weren’t always perfect.

“I’m sure there were times that you wondered, ‘What are they thinking?’ But in an era where there were few right answers, and certainly no road map, we kept our mission front and center — to take care of each other and to take care of our kids. And to never sit on the sidelines and wait for everything to be tied up neatly in a pretty bow.”

Looking forward, the district isn’t immune from the major staffing shortage that schools are facing as kids return to the classroom, O’Farrell said.

“It’s very significant for us right now. Many district administrators have returned to classrooms to cover assignments due to this shortage.”

The nation has seen a spike in retirements and resignations due to the stress of the pandemic, leaving large gaps that have yet to be filled.

O’Farrell said Clovis residents might spot the director of transportation driving a school bus, or an associate superintendent teaching a class.

But she also wants parents to know the district is striving to keep students in school.

“We know that our kids do best when they are in our classrooms, on our fields and stages, working under the watchful eye of our amazing teachers and educators,”she said. “To that end, we continue to focus on making sure our kids are in school, state mandates about masks or vaccines aside, that remains our number one goal.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab here.