Students at Fresno charter school get real-life lesson in how government really works | Opinion
Golden Charter Academy was founded on a place-based educational model, an approach that immerses students in non-classroom environments and uses the experience as a foundation for learning.
Last week, that place became the Fresno City Council chambers. Where Golden Charter Academy students who sat through most of a lengthy government meeting were both observers and participants in a civics lesson they won’t soon forget.
Following 2½ hours of presentations, questions and public comment, the charter school founded in 2021 by southwest Fresno native and former NFL defensive back Robert Golden cleared the final bureaucratic hurdle to construct a $24.5 million campus on Belmont Avenue. The gleaming facility will be across the street from Fresno Chaffee Zoo, where students visit daily to learn about biology and the environment.
However the last step required several months due to objections raised by Councilmember Miguel Arias, who appealed the project’s approval by both the city’s planning director and planning commission, resulting in what many reasonable minds would consider unnecessary, costly delays.
Arias, who has prioritized improving pedestrian safety near schools, expressed concerns about drop-off and pick-up zones, the lack of crosswalks on Belmont, lighting and even the width of sidewalks. (The school sits on 2.3 acres zoned neighborhood mixed use that requires 12-foot sidewalks. Due to size constraints, the site plan drafted by Dyson Janzen Architects shows a 10-foot sidewalk on Pacific Avenue, where students will be dropped off and picked up.)
Out of the seven council members, Arias is the most meticulous interrogator. The District 3 representative came with detailed questions and a powerpoint presentation regarding safe routes to schools.
Not to be outdone, Golden had his own presentation prepared — one backed by in-person testimony from the project’s architects, land consultant (and former city planner) Dan Zack, the school’s community resources officer and a lighting specialist who went into the candle rating of streetlights in the area.
For every question Arias asked — many of them focused on exemptions to city zoning codes — Golden provided thorough answers while pushing back, firmly but politely, against a few of the council member’s assertions.
“If you see the visual you would see we are beyond the 12 feet in our drop-off zone,” Golden told Arias at one point.
“You mean there would be portions that go beyond the sidewalk that allow for more spreading of people?” Arias asked.
“That’s correct,” Golden said.
“That’s appreciated,” Arias said.
“Thank you,” Golden replied.
Charter school supporters speak out
At the end of their back-and-forth, Arias told Golden his concerns had been satisfied and attempted to make a motion to deny his own appeal. However, because public comment had yet to be heard, Council President Annalisa Perea wouldn’t allow it.
For the next hour, roughly 30 Golden Charter Academy “scholars” (their parlance for students), faculty, parents and community members spoke in favor of the school. A few threw shade at Arias for gumming up the works.
Construction on the new campus, which will help reinvigorate one of Fresno’s dreariest roads, was supposed to begin last summer and be completed in time for the 2025-26 academic year.
Now, though, construction can’t begin until early 2025 meaning Golden Charter Academy won’t be able to move into its new digs until spring 2026. Golden said the delays will cost the school roughly $500,000 — including $350,000 to install two portable classrooms at the current campus to accommodate new classes of seventh-graders as well as its $120,000 annual lease.
“That’s $500,000 that could’ve gone to our scholars or $500,000 that could’ve gone to new staff or programming to support our scholars,” said Golden, a former Pittsburgh Steelers special teams captain.
Even though the matter had been settled before public comment, more than a dozen Golden Charter Academy students who waited hours for their chance to speak showed why the school boasts a waiting list (more than 700) that greatly exceeds its current enrollment (418).
If any school in Fresno has a more articulate and poised group of sixth-graders, I’d like to see it.
‘This city is better than that’
By the end of the testimony, Golden stood at the podium in tears.
“You shouldn’t have to cry to do what’s right, and I’m sorry you had to be run through the ringer,” Councilmember Tyler Maxwell told him. “This city is better than that, and this council is going to correct this today.”
In comments directed toward Golden Charter Academy students — he told adults in the chambers to wear imaginary “earmuffs” — fellow Councilmember Mike Karbassi brought the lesson home.
“You saw government today. This is what government is really like,” Karbassi said. “Sometimes your peers tell you, ‘No.’ But if you really believe in your heart what you’re doing is right and you don’t give up and you speak up and have a voice … ”
“The adults didn’t win the room — you guys won the room. I’ve been here five years, and I’ve never been more motivated to support a project like this.”
Days after the hearing, Golden was still on emotional high about finally getting approval for the new campus. As well as the real-life lesson in civics and persistence his students received.
“Not only was it a lesson they can learn from, it gave them an example of what they’re going to be doing in the very near future,” he said. “Yes sir.”
