For many parents, the student assignment system, known unaffectionately as the “school lottery,” is enough to drive them out of SFUSD. Instead they choose to put their kids in private schools, charter schools, or even other districts.
“You are faced with an empty list, and you have to come up with every school in the district in order that you would like for your child to attend. And as you can imagine, that’s a very intimidating process,” said Rebecca Kee, the new executive director of the SF Parents Coalition.
“You go to bed every night during that process having no guarantee of where your little four- or five-year-old is going to be going to school in a matter of months. And the unpredictability of that process has been one of the core complaints that fuels the stress.”
This is a problem, because SFUSD needs to boost enrollment. Right now, the district is overhauling the lottery, albeit almost 8 years after deciding it needed to change. They surveyed almost 3,000 families to find out what they want.
The results are still coming in (the survey closes on Friday), but next Tuesday the Board will have to decide how many options families should get. If a family doesn’t like the school in their neighborhood, should they be able to apply to any other school in the city? Or only ones with special programs, like language pathways?
Right now, it’s common for families, especially on the southeast side of San Francisco, to request schools outside of their own neighborhood.
But, according to Roberto Guzman Rivera, a parent at Guadalupe Elementary, there’s a reason for that: lack of services.
“Chronic absenteeism, the excessive suspension of our communities, literacy levels. Black and brown communities, they don't read up to level,” said Guzman Rivera. “Why we're not focusing on that? Focusing on fully staffing?”
Guzman Rivera said changing the enrollment system alone won’t make their schools better. And some members of the school board agree.
“For any of these systems to be successful, we've got to address the resources,” said board member Alida Fisher.
She and her colleagues say they don’t want to repeat old patterns. Without investment in underserved schools, families will keep looking for better options, enrollment will continue to fall, and more schools could close.
The board will have to decide the official direction next Tuesday, and will adopt a fully fleshed out policy in April. If things go according to plan, they’ll launch the new enrollment system by the summer of 2028.
