Fresno Unified appoints interim superintendent as search for permanent candidate continues
The Fresno Unified board voted unanimously during a special board meeting Friday to appoint Deputy Superintendent Misty Her as interim superintendent.
The appointment is effective May 8, following the adoption of her contract at the upcoming board meeting.
Outgoing Superintendent Bob Nelson will transition into an advisory role for the remainder of his FUSD tenure at the end of July.
“I want to thank and congratulate our board on their actions to ensure a smooth transition of leadership as they endeavor into a solid nationwide superintendent search,” Her said following the board meeting.
Her took no questions following the announcement.
The district also said it has launched a nationwide search to hire a superintendent in a permanent role. The process will consider internal candidates, according to a news release from the district.
No further details or timelines were shared.
Trustee Keshia Thomas told The Fresno Bee earlier this week that the board decided to move forward with appointing an interim superintendent to ensure the district is in the safest space possible.
Her has worked for Fresno Unified for over 30 years, starting as a bilingual instructional aide, an elementary school teacher, vice principal, principal, assistant superintendent and instructional superintendent. She was named a deputy superintendent in March 2021.
She is the first woman to lead the district since its inception in 1873 — and she is the nation’s highest-ranking Hmong K-12 educational professional, according to the district.
“This experience and dedication have prepared me to lead the district from a holistic view with an unapologetic full focus on student growth and achievement,” Her said. “We are not going to waver from this.”
Her will share more about her priorities during her agenda as interim superintendent Wednesday.
School board president Susan Wittrup said Her’s appointment will help in the transition.
“We need an interim superintendent who will continue to implement the important initiatives that the district is pursuing and who will ensure that we are fully prepared for the first day of school in the fall,” Wittrup said.
Her’s appointment as interim superintendent was not unexpected. When the district announced Nelson’s departure in January, it also said then that Her was “anticipated to be named the interim superintendent” if the board had not hired one by his last day.
Said trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas: “I stand here excited for the future of Fresno Unified as I reflect on the past few weeks and the journey since January 22. I am glad we are back to where we were in order to be united as a board with a focus on finding the best superintendent for Fresno Unified with the singular goal of advancing student achievement.”
When the board announced in March that they were interviewing internal candidates, Her was reported as a top candidate by a local media outlet owned by developer Darius Assemi.
Assemi has been actively calling for the district to conduct an external search, and urged the public to speak to the board before the internal interviews began. The board eventually canceled the scheduled interviews amid public outcry in early April, and sought to redo an external search.
At last week’s board meeting, Wittrup said trustees are discussing “available options.”
She told The Bee that the board is “making progress” and that board members aren’t worrying because the district has good leadership in place.
This story was originally published May 3, 2024 at 6:27 PM.
