Fresno schools win $14 million in state grants. Here’s where the money will go
By next school year, more Fresno Unified schools will be transformed into resource centers that provide comprehensive services to families and their neighbourhoods as part of a sweeping effort to remove barriers to children’s academic success.
Ten schools in the school district were awarded community school grants, totalling $14 million by the California Department of Education.
The five-year grant comes from the California Community Schools Partnership Program, a $1.3 billion initiative to help schools better serve families and neighbourhoods. In previous cohorts, some school districts in the Fresno area have used the money to operate food and clothing pantries, hire coordinators to connect outside resources for families in need, and fund behavioral counseling and mental health services for students.
The 10 new community schools are Greenberg Elementary, Williams Elementary, Lane Elementary, Anthony Elementary, Hidalgo Elementary, Pyle Elementary, Rowell Elementary, Hamilton K-8, Sequoia Middle, and Kings Canyon Middle.
Fresno Unified currently operates 19 community schools. The additional 10 sites means nearly one-third of the district’s schools will be community schools, a model one board trustee described as a potentially transformative model.
“We’ve already seen the impact it has had on reducing chronic absenteeism and supporting our students and families at the current 19 schools,” Trustee Andy Levine said. “With this marking the last round of grant awards from the state, we all need to do our part to support the success of this model and evaluate its impact on student outcomes as we figure out how to sustain this approach for many more years to come.”
For almost a decade, Fresno Unified has been battling declining enrollment due to the lack of new housing developments within the district boundaries. Additionally, the district’s average daily attendance is still three percentage points below its pre-pandemic figure.
Principals and teachers said the community school model helps address circumstances that prevent kids from wanting to go to school, such as not having clean clothes to wear or missing the bus and having no other means to get to school.
“A child we had wouldn’t come to school because he only had one pair of pants and his pair of pants were dirty and he couldn’t wear them,” said Matthew Phanco, principal at Thomas Elementary, a community school. “We had a lot of clothes that had been donated, so we went to the closet and we picked out 12 pairs of pants for this kid.”
For the 10 new sites, Fresno Unified will follow the same implementation plan as previous cohorts of community schools and hire coordinators for each site in July, according to district spokesperson Diana Diaz.
“Their work focuses on removing barriers to learning and creating the conditions for every student to thrive,” Diaz said. “Additionally, each school will conduct a needs assessment through listening tours with all stakeholders to identify gaps and priorities.”
Families can expect to see increased student-centered support, stronger family engagement, expanded learning opportunities and a greater presence of community partners, Diaz said.
The current 19 community schools collectively have more than 126 community partners — such as charity organizations, affordable housing, and health clinics — providing services that have reached more than 30,000 families, according to the district.
“It was giving parents the tool on how to save money, basic stuff that a lot of parents don’t know because of not knowing the language, or having barriers getting the knowledge, or maybe they weren’t born here in the United States,” said Emma Chavez, community school coordinator at Jackson Elementary, about the financial literacy program offered by Educational Employees Credit Union.
This story was originally published May 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
