Last night the San Francisco Unified School District school board met to present a status report on their process for proposed school closures. The United Educators of San Francisco - the teachers union - was also out in force holding a rally to protest a bureaucratic hold up on positions that schools are relying on.
Outside the school district central office, about 50 teachers and families were marching and chanting. They were protesting the fact that many essential school site staff that were approved by the district last year are now not able to be hired. Cassondra Curiel, President of United Educators, had this to say:
“And our big question is - how do we serve our students while the district gets their behind the scenes bureaucracy in order, right? They should be able to do both.”
Frank Lara read a statement from Blanca Katalan, a parent at Wallenberg:
“Our schools are a reflection of our community's values. If we want to invest in our children's future, we must advocate for the resources our schools need. Let’s work together to ensure our schools are fully staffed, properly funded, and that our teachers are motivated and supported.”
After their closed session, the board voted in Commissioner Lisa Weissman-Ward as the new Vice President. Public comment was lengthy as parents and staff lined up to speak out against school closures.
Many noted that the money saved would be fairly minimal, others shared that elsewhere in the country school closures created problems. Several criticized the district’s outreach and community engagement.
The meeting was a workshop with no action items to be voted on but President Alexander said the hiring blockages and delays were unacceptable and that there would be an action review at the next board meeting to address the issues to “get to the bottom of why we have these delays”.
The presentation on the Resource Alignment Initiative reiterated that the values of “Equity, Excellence and Effectiveness (of resources)” are central to their process and that Stanford was in the process of doing an “equity audit.”
The Superintendent - Dr Matt Wayne - explained that it’s not just about school closures - it's about spreading out resources in a way that better serves students. He also mentioned a reorganization of the central office to streamline and build across teams as well as some updates to the enrollment process and what the options for families affected by school closures will be.
The Commissioners all weighed in with their questions and concerns about the next stages of the plan and about how families and school sites will be notified. The long planned for enrollment revamp will be put on hold until the next cycle as zones will need to be reflective of the new school map.
The next big milestone will be September 18th when the district will announce what it is calling it’s new portfolio of schools. Which basically means the list of schools slated for mergers, co-locations and closures.
