Fresno Unified School Board Names New Leader: Interim Superintendent Misty Her Takes the Helm

The Fresno Unified School District board intends to appoint interim Superintendent Misty Her as the permanent head of the state's third-biggest school district, designating the seasoned district educator as the only candidate for the position.

The school board’s statement made on Wednesday night marks the end of a chaotic 15-month hunt for a new head following Bob Nelson’s announcement of his retirement as superintendent in January 2024.

The board members voted 6-to-1 during a private session to choose her as the new superintendent, with plans to finalize the superintendent contract at their meeting on April 30. Trustee Susan Wittrup was the sole member who voted against it.

He has spent over three decades at Fresno Unified serving first as a bilingual instructional aide, progressing through roles such as elementary school teacher, vice-principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and finally instructional superintendent. In March 2021, he was appointed deputy superintendent, then stepped into the role of interim head of the district in May 2024.

She is the inaugural female leader of the district since its founding in 1873, and she will assume the position of the country’s most senior Hmong K-12 education official, as stated by the district.

Several Hmong parents and community supporters voiced their backing for Her’s appointment during the school board meeting on Wednesday, encouraging the trustees to eliminate the interim designation.

Nevertheless, the school board's selection procedure encountered some disputes. The trustees originally aimed to choose a permanent head last May but postponed their decision for one year due to public backlash against their intention to restrict the search exclusively to internal applicants.

The school board conducted a nationwide search and held interviews with candidates in private sessions earlier this month.

A 15-month search

After Nelson announced his retirement, Fresno Unified took action as follows: launched a quest for his replacement by organizing multiple community listening sessions spending $40,000 for hiring a search firm.

In March 2024, the board decided In a 4-3 secret-ballot decision to confine the selection process for its new superintendent, they voted internal applicants This decision received significant backlash. At the time, Board President Susan Wittrup called for an expanded search process. Over one hundred parents and local residents rallied outside the district’s central office the night before the planned internal interviews, urging for openness in selecting new leadership. As a result, the board decided to cancel these meetings.

On that very night, the recruiter stepped back from Fresno Unified, stating that the search had become “ compromised .”

The board appointed Having taken up her role as interim superintendent last May, she pledged to restart The search aims to consider external candidates as well.

The search hit a deadlock until January as the board did. expended $100,000 to engage a personal trainer to address Regular disputes between board members.

In February 2025, Fresno Unified allocated $34,500 for McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, to carry out a national recruitment effort.

The search was largely conducted with restricted access, which led to criticism from both the Fresno Teachers Association and community members due to insufficient transparency and public involvement.

Manuel Bonilla, who leads the teachers union, addressed the board trustees on Wednesday prior to their entry into a closed session. He stated that many regular members "have lost considerable faith in your abilities."

"I want to make myself clear, it's not about the person you selected, but rather the process that you overseen," Bonilla stated.

Bonilla charged that the board was disregarding an offer from the union to cover both the costs and accommodation for a public discussion featuring the shortlisted candidates for the position.

At the beginning of this month, the board conducted private meetings with multiple applicants. Even though there has been significant local demand for openness and public involvement in the selection and interview procedures over the last year, the district chose not to disclose the identities of the shortlisted candidates.

A group of advisors from the community, chosen by the trustees, was also involved in conducting the interviews.

As stated by Ben Johnson II, a consultant from the search firm, the panel was established to provide "an extra chance to adequately gather perspectives from different community members."

Johnson refused to disclose the members of the advisory committee.

He mentioned that the panel only highlighted the strengths and possible opportunities for each candidate," he stated. "No rankings were made; the feedback from the panel represents a collective agreement.

Nikki Henry, who speaks for Fresno Unified, mentioned that every trustee and panel member agreed not to disclose information about the candidates and their interviews, ensuring everything remains confidential.

“Maintaining this confidentiality was crucial for attracting the best possible candidates,” Henry stated. “A number of senior executives may not have participated if they knew their applications would be publicly disclosed before finalists were chosen, due to the possible impact on their present positions, groups, and surroundings.”

This is an evolving story and will be updated.