The San Francisco Unified School District held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
SFUSD provided information about accessibility services, including closed captioning, ASL interpretation, and translation in Spanish and Cantonese. Attendees were informed about how to participate in public comments. SFUSD also noted that childcare for children aged 3-10 was provided during the meeting. The board acknowledged that they were meeting on the unceded ancestral lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone.
The Superintendent’s Report was shared by Dr. Matt Wayne. The report was followed by public comment.
Several members of the public voiced concerns about staffing shortages, the potential negative impacts of school closures on students of color, and issues with the district’s payroll system.
Parents and community members also expressed concerns about the collaboration with charter school organizations, the closure of teacher certification pathways, and the impact of overcrowding in classrooms.
Commissioner Jenny Lam provided updates from the Ad Hoc Committee on Fiscal and Operational Health, noting the progress being made and the live public dashboard available on the district’s website for monitoring fiscal health.
Student Delegate Langston Montgomery reported on the successful mobilization of the Student Advisory Council, noting its strong representation of nearly all SFUSD schools.
The meeting included a discussion on the district’s academic goals and guardrails.
As part of the discussion, board members raised concerns about the metrics used in measuring community engagement, with some advocating for qualitative rather than just quantitative metrics.
There was also a robust conversation about what Board President Matt Alexander called “significant hiring delays … in terms of district teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses, and others that have had a severe impact on a lot of kids … in the school district.” The Human Resources team gave a presentation to address concerns.
This meeting also covered topics including school closures, fiscal health, and the district’s approach to engaging with community feedback, with a strong focus on transparency and addressing the concerns of people of color and underserved populations.
You can watch the meeting in its entirety at this link.
Please click the audio button above to hear a half-hour summary version of this meeting.