The first week back for 50,000 students in San Francisco’s public schools was capped with an unexpected change of leadership on the school board. On Friday in San Francisco, KALW spoke with families picking up their children from Alvarado Elementary in Noe Valley about the first week of school.
Mari Argento’s daughter just started Kindergarten:
“ It's been a lot, I think she's happy, she had a good time. It's yeah, it's exciting. It's an exciting school.
She's probably gonna crash today when we get home. Busy first week for all of us and exciting.”
Joanna Gould said that both her children are excited about their teachers. Her daughter told KALW:
“I’m Lucy - this first week's been going very well. And, like, some of the kids in my class are really nice.”
Alvarado Principal Michelle Sundby, herself a parent of two children in San Francisco public schools, told KALW:
“It's been a really wonderful first week of school. Lots of joyful learning. Everything's gone really smoothly”
Events at the central office were not quite as smooth, but they were fast. On Friday morning, school board President Lainie Motamedi resigned citing health and personal reasons.
At mid-day Mayor London Breed swore in Phil Kim to serve out the remaining term. Kim has a background as a teacher and an administrator. He has been spearheading the district’s Resource Allocation Initiative, which is dealing with school closures.
At the end of the school day Friday -- all of the families KALW interviewed – apart from the principal – had not yet heard about the change on the school board.
KALW then called Kari Gray, a longtime public school parent, who serves on the district and state PTA boards. Gray spoke as an individual not representing any organization:
“I think that this transition will go really smoothly because Mr. Kim has so much experience in the district and there will be a very short learning curve. He'll be ready to go from the very first school board meeting.”
Sara Meskin is a teacher and a member of the San Francisco Parents Leadership Council. She’s also a parent with children at Daniel Webster and James Lick, and she had this to say:
”I was really shocked so I'm just kind of listening and trying to, you know, remain aware. And I just want to make sure leadership remains focused on how to get the best education for kids in the district, for all of the kids in the district. “
On a rainy Saturday morning at an SF Parents group event in Balboa Park, KALW spoke with Phil Kim:
“It has certainly been a whirlwind. I'm incredibly excited to step in and do what I can to ensure that we don't skip a beat moving forward. I'm working with the superintendent to make sure that there's a smooth transition to the work. The team is really strong, so I anticipate there being no hiccups in the work.”
According to a United Educators of San Francisco, the teachers union, statement on their website the Mayor did not reach out to the union for input on the replacement. UESF also raised concerns about Phil Kim's previous employment with a charter school operator.
School Board Vice President Matt Alexander will become the president. And on August 27th the board will vote on a new vice president.
