Longtime Clovis educator will lead school district in Fresno as interim superintendent
The Central Unified school board didn’t have to look far to find someone to lead the west Fresno district while it seeks to find a permanent superintendent.
The district’s board voted unanimously on Tuesday night to appoint Eimear O’Brien, former superintendent of Clovis Unified School District, to serve as interim superintendent, effective immediately.
“I approached Dr. O’Brien because we are in a critical period. We want to finish strong, we want to honor the great achievements our students are doing and will continue to do, and we want our district to continue to thrive,” said Board President Naindeep Singh. “We believe that in this period, Dr. O’Brien is the best person to help us do that.”
O’Brien has 40 years of experience in education, 20 of them as a teacher, which she describes as her “happiest days.” She served 26 years in Clovis Unified as a teacher, principal and administrator. During her six years as superintendent of Clovis Unified, the district earned three National Blue Ribbon Awards and 13 California Distinguished School Awards. O’Brien retired in June 2023.
Singh said the Central Unified board values O’Brien’s connections in the area and recognizes her accomplishments at Clovis Unified.
O’Brien said she was interested in the interim role because she sees similarities between the Central and Clovis districts.
“I have a lot of connections with Central Unified over the years. I have a lot of friends whose children go to school here and I have friends who teach here. Actually, our administrative team in Clovis often collaborated with the team here,” O’Brien told The Bee Tuesday night. “We share some core values as well, the focus on high expectations for students. That’s a core value of Central Unified and very much how we operated in Clovis.”
O’Brien said she aims to bring stability, continuity, and strong leadership to the district.
“It provides that sense of competence and security among the employees that they can finish the year strong,” she said. “I often remind myself that our students have worked very hard. Their families have put in the time all year, as well as our staff. So they all deserve to be able to focus on what they need to do to finish the year strong.”
Central Unified trustees placed its former superintendent Ketti Davis on administrative leave two weeks ago, saying they had reached an amicable separation agreement.
The board will begin a superintendent search with the goal to hire a full-time leader before the start of the new school year, said Singh.
Located in southwest Fresno, Central Unified is a rapidly growing school district with more than 16,000 students. The district joins several others actively seeking to hire a superintendent, including neighboring Fresno Unified — which has struggled to recruit a superintendent for over a year.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM.
