Lawsuit over Fresno Unified’s equity program has been dismissed
A lawsuit against Fresno Unified that accused the district of excluding students from initiatives aiming to improve African American student achievement was recently dismissed.
The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER), a nonprofit targeting “woke culture” and diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public education, filed the lawsuit against Fresno Unified in February. The group’s complaint accused the district’s African American Academic Acceleration (A4) initiative of excluding non-Black students.
A spokesperson for Pacific Legal Group, which represents the foundation in the lawsuit, said a judge granted Fresno Unified’s motion to dismiss the complaint. The foundation filed an appeal, which has not yet been ruled on.
The lawsuit’s dismissal comes amid a potential rebrand for the A4 initiative. While a district spokesperson said in February there were no plans to change the A4 program, Fresno Unified confirmed months later that it planned to gather community feedback about a potential name change or rebrand.
The district abruptly postponed a series of listening sessions set to begin last week. Some attendees of the first listening session that was scheduled for last Wednesday at Fresno City College showed up to the campus unaware that the event had been canceled.
Fresno Unified spokesperson A.J. Kato said the events were canceled due to low registration, and the A4 team is hoping to host the events sometime after winter break.
It’s unclear how Fresno Unified had been promoting the listening sessions. The Facebook and Instagram accounts for the school district and its A4 program show no mention of the listening sessions.
The district announced the postponement of the public forums via its A4 program’s social media on Thursday — one day after the listening sessions were scheduled to begin.
On a flyer for the event, the district cited “federal compliance” as the reason behind the discussion and highlighted the “emerging mandates separating equity programs from district operations.”
Launched in 2017, A4 was conceptualized as a way to bridge academic achievement gaps among Black Fresno Unified students, though the district says the program serves students of all backgrounds.
In January, President Donald’s Trump blasted DEI initiatives as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” During the summer, Attorney General Pam Bondi released guidance to “help entities comply with federal antidiscrimination laws and avoid legal pitfalls.” Bondi directly took aim at DEI programs and warned that institutions could lose federal funding if they employ “unlawful discriminatory policies and practices.”
