SF mayor calls for ‘immediate stop’ to SFUSD school closures

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) – San Francisco Mayor London Breed joined teachers and families in speaking out against San Francisco Unified School District’s potential upcoming school closures on Tuesday, claiming these closures “cannot continue.”

In her letter, the mayor calls for an alternative to school closures after she “lost confidence” in SFUSD Superintendent Matt Wayne. She claims his ability will not lead to an outcome “that will benefit students and the School District in the long term.”

Breed said she spoke to “confused” families and teachers around San Francisco, claiming, “Whatever this current proposed school closure process was meant to accomplish, or could have accomplished, is lost… Unfortunately, the only achievement has been to make a precarious time for our public schools even more chaotic,” Breed said.

In reply to the mayor, Superintendent Wayne sent the following statement, reading in part:

Over the next two weeks, I will spend time with the students, families, and staff of each of the 13 schools that meet the criteria for closure or merger, listening to their questions and concerns. I know there is nothing that will make those conversations easier. At the same time, I must ensure that the district continues to improve educational outcomes for all 49,000 students entrusted in our care.

Frank Lara, Executive Vice President of United Educators of San Francisco, agrees with the mayor’s sentiments. He said the potential school closures have caused a ”tremendous amount of disruption ” and are not necessary.

“(SFUSD educators) have been in contact with the California Department of Education, and their own representative has said multiple times, ‘School closures are not necessitated to balance out the school budget,’” Lara said, claiming SFUSD is using “fear-mongering” tactics.

In the best-case scenario, UESF claims these school closures will save SFUSD $20M “at the most” for their current $110M deficit. Lara claims closing schools isn’t necessary, as SFUSD saved more than $20M last year through “very basic accounting” changes.

UESF believes that instead of closures, the SFUSD’s budget deficit can be recovered by improving other aspects such as enrollment, internal budget controls, and staffing.

The list of schools facing potential closure was determined by a “composite score” developed by SFUSD. Despite having one of the lowest composite scores in the school district, SFUSD never listed Dianne Feinstein Elementary in the list of potential closures, exacerbating confusion among parents and teachers.

“All (composite scores) reflect is the level of poor management of resources from the district’s central office in enrolling, capacitating, staffing,” Lara said.

Aside from closures and mergers, to further balance the budget, school district students could potentially be enrolled in “combo classes.” This entails combining neighboring grades into one classroom, which some teachers advocate against because it does not provide the “ideal educational environment” for students.

Breed is running for re-election as San Francisco Mayor. According to Ballotpedia, the four candidates leading the polls as of this report, aside from Breed, are Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, and Aaron Peskin.

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