Scandal, politics and personalities in Fresno schools — 7 big stories from 2025
As the year draws to a close, here are some noteworthy highlights from Fresno’s education scene that The Fresno Bee covered in 2025.
Transgender athlete controversy comes to Clovis
Local conservative leaders didn’t want a transgender athlete competing against cisgender girls at the state track and field championships, held at Buchanan High School. Clovis Unified trustees Tiffany Stoker Madsen and Deena Combs-Flores attended a press conference to speak against the athlete’s inclusion.
Madsen, the newly-appointed president of the school board, said her stance was rooted in “protecting the integrity of female sports.” Despite opposition from Trump, the athlete was allowed to compete and earned two first-place medals amid local protests outside the stadium.
Click here to read our coverage of the Clovis press conference about the athlete.
Charlie Kirk backlash
After right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a Utah college campus in September, some Fresno-area educators faced backlash for their statements on the matter.
Fresno State lecturer Barri Brennan was placed on leave for comments she made prior to the start of a Sept. 10 class, as she was being secretly recorded by a student. Similarly, Shaynon Scheidt was removed from a part-time lecturer position at College of the Sequoias after he was recorded saying, “I hope every one of his family dies.”
Elizabeth Houtsinger, a Clovis educator who’s currently working outside the classroom on union duties, faced backlash for social media posts equating Kirk to a “Nazi.”
Click here to read our first story on the controversy.
First woman to lead Fresno Unified
After a 15-month-long search, Misty Her was appointed as the leader of Fresno Unified, making her the first woman and Hmong to hold the role.
Born in a prisoner of war camp, Her immigrated to the United States when she was five and eventually settled in Fresno. As an adult, she began her educational career as an aide and taught elementary school before becoming an administrator. As Fresno Unified’s superintendent, Her is the nation’s highest-ranking Hmong K-12 education professional.
Check here to see video of Misty Her discussing hurdles she had to overcome.
Fresno Unified AI scandal
Shortly after Misty Her was named superintendent, the Fresno Teachers Association unveiled that the district’s spokesperson at the time, Nikki Henry, used artificial intelligence to produce a document highlighting alleged attacks from the teachers union.
The document was supported by fabricated quotes attributed to local news outlets, including The Bee. Henry was placed on leave and eventually resigned with a six-figure payout. In an email obtained via public records request, Henry told staffers, “I take full responsibility for moving too fast, trusting a tool without double-checking, and not raising my hand to say ‘I need more time.’”
Click here to read our latest coverage about the aftermath.
The Carole Goldsmith saga
State Center Community College District chancellor Carole Goldsmith is embroiled in controversy, as faculty union members urgently want her ousted.
Hours before union members gathered to deliver a vote of no confidence in November, Goldsmith announced that she would retire in September. She maintained that this decision wasn’t due to union pressures and said no-confidence votes were “not uncommon” during bargaining.
Union members still want Goldsmith out, and a special meeting earlier this month on the matter didn’t yield any answers from the board.
Click here for the latest story about Carole Goldsmith.
Fresno Unified’s diversity rebrand
In February, Fresno Unified was sued over claims that its A4 program, known as African American Academic Acceleration at the time, discriminated against non-Black students. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, though changes to the district’s diversity efforts ensued.
The district’s DEI department and A4 program were both rebranded, though the district maintains its commitments to diversity are unchanged. Although district leaders said the changes weren’t in response to political pressures from Trump, emails obtained by The Bee suggested otherwise.
Click here for more about the rebranding.
New campuses
Central Unified made history in January when its trustees voted to name a new elementary school after Jaswant Singh Khalra, a Sikh human rights activist who investigated illegal killings carried out by Punjab police. This made the site the first school in North America to be named after someone of Sikh descent.
Clovis Unified built the Terry P. Bradley Educational Center, which cost $600 million and is the Central Valley’s most expensive school campus.
The sites opened for the 2025-26 school year.
Click here for an editorial about the significance of Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary.
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
