Fresno schools official moonlights for $1.5M PAC he cofounded. What was the loophole?
The Central Unified School District in Fresno amended board policies this week to close loopholes that allowed a district official to moonlight for a political action committee that he cofounded and that has been donating to local campaigns, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
Following reports from The Fresno Bee, the Central Unified board revised the district’s conflict of interest code on Tuesday to include the communications and public relations officer in the list of positions required to file a Statement of Economic Interest form, also known as Form 700, to disclose income and employment information from outside of their district jobs.
“There have been some recent concerns raised by board members and by the community identifying a gap in reporting, and we just want to make sure that to the extent that there are any conflicts, the district is well aware of what they may be,” said Yesenia Carrillo, the board president, at the Tuesday meeting.
The district’s current communications and public relations officer, Johnathon Burrows, is a cofounder and runs a $1.5 million political action committee, Youth Save Democracy. The PAC’s activity drew criticism among some peers in the Fresno County Democratic Party for using funds raised nationwide on local Fresno elections and candidates. Critics also point out that Burrows and the PAC’s other cofounders and associates have benefited financially from the funds, working as political candidates and consultants, The Bee previously reported.
Burrows was paid $58,000 in 2025 and a total of $60,000 in the previous two years for his digital consulting services, the PAC’s consultant expenditure records show.
The PAC’s donation and contract beneficiaries also include two Central Unified board members, prior to Burrows joining the district in October 2024. It donated $7,000 to former Trustee Natalie Chavez for her campaign running for the school board seat in the November 2024 election, and had a $3,000 contract with Trustee Nabil Kherfan in 2023 for his political strategy consulting services.
At a board meeting held on Oct. 22, 2024, Kherfan made the motion to approve the appointment of a list of classified employees, including Burrows as the district’s communications and public relations officer, in the closed session, the board meeting minutes show. The hire was passed by a vote of four in favor, two against, and one trustee absent.
“I would also remind all board members of their obligation to legally comply with any conflict of interest, and would encourage you to overcomply,” Carrillo said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “I hate to see the use of our resources, and quite frankly, wasting our money and having to investigate complaints against us or against any of our employees for alleged Political Reform Act violations, Government Code Section 1090, or the relevant conflict of interest provisions.”
Burrows received a base salary and stipend totalling $118,764 from Central Unified in 2025, according to the district records. The school district also pays for his insurance and benefits.
District policy loopholes
In California, every elected official and public employee with a role in making or influencing government decisions must file the Form 700, annually, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
The disclosure provides necessary information to the public about a public employee’s personal financial interests to ensure that the official makes decisions in the best interest of the public, nor personal finances, and the form also serves as a reminder to the officials of potential conflicts of interest so they can abstain from participating in relevant decision-making, wrote FFPC on its website.
Central Unified’s Superintendent Mark E. Marshall said the district wasn’t aware of Burrows’ involvement with the PAC before The Bee’s reports. The district relies on employees’ self-reporting of the potential conflicts of interest, and Burrows was not on a shortlist of positions that were required to file Form 700 before Tuesday.
The district in west Fresno serving 16,000 students has an outside employment policy that allows district employees to receive compensation from external work as long as those activities are inconsistent, incompatible, in conflict with, or inimical to the employee’s district duties, according to Central Unified’s board policy.
Only when the outside employment may conflict with their duties to the school district, Central Unified employees are required to submit a written request to their supervisor, the policy said. It includes instances such as when outside employment affects the employee’s regular working hours, uses the district’s property, or requires approval or control by another school district’s employees or board members.
Marshall said the district’s human resources department, with his oversight, informed all employees of the board policy regarding outside employment.
“Employees are expected to operate within those boundaries, and we take that seriously,” Marshall wrote in the statement. “Employees are responsible for notifying their supervisor to ensure district policy is followed.”
In a statement to The Bee last week, Burrows said he complied with the district’s policy on outside employment, and there is no overlap between the PAC work and his role at Central Unified.
“We don’t advocate for policies, contracts, or appropriations,” he said. “Since joining the district, I have not engaged in any political activity in my capacity as a district employee, and district resources play no role in any external work I hold.”
When The Bee requested Burrows’s financial disclosure information last week, Marshall said the communications and public relations officer position was not on a list titled “E 9270 Conflict of Interest,” which specifies the roles required to file a Form 700.
The list Marshall referred to, however, was not a document issued by FFPC, but from the California School Board Association, a nonprofit organization whose paying members include nearly all local school districts and county offices of education.
By paying membership dues, school districts can receive benefits such as training opportunities for board trustees, analysis of state and federal legislation, and sample policies for adopting legislation into local school board policies.
“E 9270 presents a sample board resolution comprising the terms of the district’s/county office’s conflict of interest code and an Appendix of sample disclosure categories and designated positions,” wrote CSBA in a document published in July 2010 explaining the state legislation.
The sample list includes typical roles that handle tax dollars, such as superintendent, purchasing director, fiscal services director, and construction manager. The communications officer is not on the sample list CSBA provided.
In the document, CSBA reminded school districts to modify the sample list to reflect their actual positions and the applicable disclosure requirements.
