Candidate for
Trustee; Fresno Unified School District; Trustee Area 7

Fresno Unified School District, Board member. 2003 to the Present

• Selected as Board President in 2004
• California School Board Association, delegate
• Fresno Career Tech Advisory Committee, member, and strong advocate for vocational education

• Patricia Barr spent 30 years as a teacher, gaining front line experience helping some of our toughest and most vulnerable students succeed. Having worked in classrooms full of struggling students for 30 years, Patricia Barr has developed effective ways to improve student performance and keep students in school.

• No ordinary teacher, Patricia has been honored as FUSD Secondary Teacher of the Year by Fresno Unified (1999) and the Downtown Rotary Club (2000). She was selected as a Mentor Teacher and a Master Teacher for her expertise in teaching reading and U.S. history.

• Patricia established tutorial labs for at-risk students and instituted "Read Night" and "TV Dark Nights" to foster family reading. She taught core subjects to at risk students.

• Patricia helped launch Duncan Polytechnic High School in the mid `80s. While at Duncan, she chaired the School Site Committee as well as the WASC self study.

• 30 years in the classroom provides me great insight as a policymaker, particularly on curriculum and instruction issues. I understand how to capture the imagination and interest of students and help them learn to make good decisions. I also have a good sense of why middle schools and high schools aren't doing as well as they could and what is needed.

Since joining the Fresno School Board in 2003, Patricia has been a driving force for positive change. Patricia helped lead the district out of its financial crisis, preventing a threatened state takeover. She's been a strong supporter of the new Superintendent's efforts to build an effective leadership team and restructure the Central Administration to be more responsive to school sites.

Assemblyman Juan Arambula [also former FUSD Board Member]: "Patricia Barr has earned my admiration for her hard work and wise decisions. Our children and our community need Pat Barr on the FUSD Board."

Fresno County Superintendent Pete Mehas: "Patricia Barr has earned the right to be re-elected. She does her homework, understands the issues, and has the courage to challenge the status quo."

Dick Johanson , former FUSD Board Member: "Re-electing Patricia Barr is critical to the successful restoration of FUSD as a pace setter for educational excellence."

Nancy Richardson, former FUSD Board Member: "Patricia has shown herself to be an avid learner, and has acquired a detailed understanding of the issues. We need her experience and dedication on the Board during the next four years."

Pete Weber, co-chair of the Regional Jobs Initiative: "Patricia Barr has a wealth of educational experience and an unbending commitment towards putting the children first in all the decisions she makes. She has been and will continue to be the kind of board member we need at FUSD."