The president of the Clovis Unified school board says the district’s students are still recovering from the learning loss and a drop in test scores brought on by school closures during the pandemic.
Board President Hugh Awtrey won his first full term on the Clovis Unified board in November 2020 during the pandemic school closures. Awtrey, who joined the board in 2019 to serve the remaining term of a departing trustee, was vocal about reopening schools and allowing parents to decide whether their kids went to school in person.
Awtrey said improving student achievement, post-pandemic, and preserving the district’s local control will be his top priorities if he wins a second term.
A commercial insurance broker, Awtrey faces a challenge against Gina Vue , a Clovis mom and clinician, for the board’s Area 2 seat that includes Clovis High.
“I want to make sure that all students from all walks of life within Clovis Unified continue to be able to participate in the high-quality education and extracurriculars that my family and I received,” he said.
Awtrey spoke with The Fresno Bee’s via email. His responses are edited for length and clarity.
What are your priorities for Clovis Unified, if reelected?
Safety is an issue that is important for all our students. Over the last few years, we have made significant improvements with classroom doors not being locked, and the district is currently installing a system where all unmanned doors at a site are able to be locked with a push of a button. We have installed a notification system through employee cell phones, which gives instant notification of an incident and instructions on what to do. We must continually evaluate our schools for maximum safety for our children as technology and social issues change.
Student achievement is also a priority. COVID left our students’ performances on state testing below our normal levels. There has been a lot of work done to get our students back to performing where they were prior to the pandemic. The administration and teachers have worked hard over the last year, and we have seen improvement, but we cannot let up now. We must continue to focus on improving student achievement.
The last item that we must continue to work on is funding. Clovis Unified is the lowest-funded district in Fresno County. As a result, we must work efficiently to stretch every dollar we receive from the state and the federal government. We need to persist in lobbying Sacramento for fair and adequate funding.
What programs should Clovis Unified expand??
I would love to see more options in the career and technical education area. Not all students want to go to college, and those students should not have to go through an educational program that is set up for students who want to go to college. Clovis Unified already has a wide offering of CTE classes available at the different high schools. Students are also able to take CTE classes at a different high school if their home high school does not offer what they are looking for. Having more options allows more students to get involved in educational programs that may lead to a career.
What are the biggest challenges facing Clovis Unified?
Two of the biggest challenges looking forward are funding and student population growth. As I had said previously, funding is a big issue for us and we do not have much control of it. Sacramento is continually changing the funding method, and most of the time it is not to Clovis Unified’s advantage. We must always be looking at ways to save money and also work with our fellow school districts to educate Sacramento politicians about the need for steady and adequate funding.
Clovis Unified is growing. What can the district do to ensure fair representation of its diverse student population?
As a board member, I work with the administration to ensure that there are systems in place to give voice to our diverse students, families and staff so they are heard. For example, every school has student and parent advisory groups representing the diversity of our schools. They have an open door to give input, share experiences and raise issues of importance. The district also has an accountability model that holds each school responsible for increasing cultural proficiency, year over year.
As a board member, I’m part of a group holding our superintendent and her team accountable for ensuring these systems are working. As a longtime resident of the area, I’m active throughout the community and regularly talk with, listen to, and engage with a cross section of our community to ensure that I continue to understand their point of view.
How is Clovis Unified working with localities to keep up with student growth?
We work closely with the City of Clovis, City of Fresno and the County of Fresno to keep abreast of future developments. It takes a school district many years to buy a property and design and build a school. Without close cooperation with these local governments, we would be behind and playing catch-up. It is a complicated balancing act that the Clovis Unified administration facilities group must work at every day.
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