FUSD Board Weighs Appointing Former Fresno State Athlete Ben Amuku Drati

Fresno Unified School District’s board is set to consider appointing Ben Amuku Drati to the vacant deputy superintendent post, a move that would fill a leadership slot left when Misty Her became interim superintendent in May 2024. The San Joaquin Valley Sun reported that Drati, who began his career in education in Fresno and fled war‑torn Uganda with his family at age nine before immigrating to Los Angeles, would be offered a three‑year contract paying $310,000 annually, a $500 monthly auto travel allowance and a one‑time $10,000 relocation payment. If approved, the Sun reported Drati’s first day would be Sep. 2.

Multiple local outlets described the incoming deputy superintendent as a former Fresno State football player; the newspapers and video outlets used that phrase in headlines. The Sun named Ben Amuku Drati as the candidate but the available excerpts did not explicitly link his name to that athletic description, a detail the district and the candidate will need to confirm publicly for clarity.

The appointment follows a contentious superintendent search that included more than 30 community listening sessions and a “Goals and Guardrails” framework intended to guide selection of a permanent superintendent. Board members and staff emphasized community input and transparency in the search process, with open sessions covering the RFQ for a search firm, the award of that firm, job descriptions, search screens and exclusionary criteria. Board member Henry summarized the board’s ambition for the district, saying, “We're trying to do things very differently, and therefore, we're hoping that we'll have transformational change, not incremental change,” and warning that “hard decisions” will be required to meet the Goals and Guardrails.

The search was paused last spring after then-Board President Susan Wittrup publicly criticized elements of the process, declaring, “It was rigged. You know, it was rigged.” The hiring firm Leadership Associates later backed out of its contract amid the dispute. Against that backdrop, Board President Davis praised Misty Her’s stewardship since her interim appointment, saying, “As interim superintendent, Misty Her was instrumental in refocusing our district on student outcomes and achieving operational excellence, recognizing that our district was not progressing because we lacked focus and clarity districtwide. As our superintendent, I expect her to lead us to gains we have not seen before.”

For Fresno County residents, the questions around Drati’s appointment touch on local priorities: continuity of leadership in classrooms, use of district dollars for executive pay, and whether new leaders will deliver improved student outcomes after an extended, controversial search. The board’s upcoming meeting to consider the appointment will be the next public milestone; if the contract is approved as reported, the deputy superintendent position would be filled in time for the new school year. Residents and district staff seeking clarity should watch the board agenda and district communications for confirmation of the appointment, contract details and any statements linking the named candidate to the athletic background cited in local headlines.