FRESNO, CA (KMJ) The school year at Fresno Unified is beginning with a bang.
The Fresno Teachers Association is calling for FUSD Trustee Keshia Thomas to resign in the wake of a racism scandal – that should’ve never been.
Thomas had accused former Bullard football coach Don Arax of calling her son a racist slur. Turns out, it wasn’t true. Her son recently recanted the story.
“Public service requires trust, and Trustee Thomas has lost that trust,” FTA President Manuel Bonilla said. “After four years of defending a case that began with a serious accusation against a Fresno Unified employee, she has now permanently given up the defense that her statements were true. The community should not be expected to simply move on as if nothing has changed.”
Thomas, who is currently running for Fresno City Council, issued a press release late Monday afternoon apologizing to Arax and explaining that she acted on what she “believed to be true.
“I believed my son had been wronged and I stood up for him. Now that I have learned the information I relied upon regarding Mr. Arax was not accurate, I am standing up again. Standing for what’s right means standing for everyone. The truth has to matter in both circumstances, and the fact that this involves my own family does not change that.”
“Mr. Arax, I sincerely apologize to you and your family. I believed the information I had at the time, but I have since learned that the information I relied upon was not accurate. Had I known then what I know today, I would not have made those statements. I cannot undo what I said, but I can acknowledge what I know today, take responsibility for the words I spoke and offer you the apology you deserve.”
The Fresno Unified Board stopped paying for Thomas’s legal fees and will not cover any judgment against her.
In 2022, Arax filed a defamation suit to clear his name, seeking financial compensation for “massive reputational harm” which Thomas’ attorney claims could reach upwards of $20 million.
Thomas has dropped her legal defenses—including her argument that the statement was “privileged and defensible as true”.
“This is bigger than one legal defense or one court filing,” Bonilla said. “A trustee made a serious public accusation about a district employee. Four years later, the factual foundation of that accusation is being challenged, conflicting accounts have emerged, and Trustee Thomas has abandoned the defense that her statements were true. The question now is whether the community can still trust her judgment. We do not believe it can.”
