Fontana Unified School District Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks, who rose through the ranks at the district to become top administrator five years ago, will leaving her position at the end of the current school year to become superintendent with the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.
The announcement of Olsen-Binks departure comes just five months after her mother-in-law, Kathy Binks departed after 24 years on the Fontana School Board.
Olsen-Binks was originally an elementary school teacher within the district, which boasts 40,000 students. She began her teaching career in 1990.
Olsen-Binks encountered rough sledding over the last four years as the state has steadily reduced education funding. Factionalism on the school board made for strained relations with some of those she had to answer to. On four occasions within the last 13 months, the board held closed door sessions in which her possible firing was discussed, though the board did not pull the trigger on her. The two members of the school board who had asked for Olsen-Binks’ performance reviews, Leticia Garcia and Sophia Green, are now the target of a recall effort.
She said her departure from Fontana is a bittersweet one that will be best for her family. The Yucaipa-Calimesa district has about one fourth the number of students as Fontana Unified.