SF school district to announce mergers and closures

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — A list of San Francisco public schools that may close or merge set to be announced Tuesday will give parents some type of clarity for the next school year as the San Francisco Unified School District continues to face a major budget deficit said to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s still unclear how many schools will be affected. After Tuesday’s announcement, the list of schools still needs to be approved by the school board on Nov. 12 followed by a final vote on Dec. 10.

While San Francisco Mayor London Breed has no say in these decisions, she did step in last month providing the district with a stabilization team to help.

School district officials said the budget deficit is due to declining enrollment that has dropped by more than 4,000 students since the 2017-2018 school year and is projected to lose about 4,600 more by 2032.

The decision-making process will reportedly be based on a scoring system for each school that includes three categories: 25 percent on excellence, 25 percent on effective use and 50 percent on equity.

The superintendent said a virtual town hall meeting will be hosted for the community on Thursday discussing the decisions made, how they came to this conclusion and where the budget currently is.

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