Dozens of teachers and students in the San Francisco Unified School District rallied at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting to voice their frustrations about staffing shortages and the district’s plan to close schools amid declining enrollment.
Outside of SFUSD headquarters, about 100 educators and members of teachers’ unions picketed to demand that vacant positions across the district be filled immediately.
The district has been plagued for many years with problems including staffing shortages and fewer students attending. Since the 2017-18 school year, enrollment throughout the district has decreased by more than 4,000 students. Overall, SFUSD has the capacity to serve 14,000 more students with the current number of schools, said Superintendent Matt Wayne during his presentation at Tuesday’s board meeting.
For this school year, which started last week, the district estimates that 15% of classrooms are staffed by substitute teachers or teachers on special assignment.
The protesters decried that applicants who could fill empty positions are stuck in a bureaucratic maze. They said the delay between applying and getting accepted is too long, forcing applicants to prematurely exit the application process.
“It’s just not acceptable to not have staff in our classrooms for our kids. We’re going to have a full discussion on that …”
Matt Alexander, school board president
“Some have to drop out of the process because they need to ensure their paycheck,” said Cassondra Curiel, president of the United Educators of San Francisco teachers’ union. “Some applied and didn’t hear anything back and it just languished. There are positions that maybe haven’t even been posted. It’s a big concern.”
During the board’s meeting after the protest, board president Matt Alexander said that Wayne will conduct a review to find the underlying cause of the setbacks in the hiring process.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of what has caused those delays and learn lessons from it,” Alexander said. “It’s just not acceptable to not have staff in our classrooms for our kids. We’re going to have a full discussion on that at the Sept. 10 meeting.”
Anxiety over possible school closures
In addition to holes in the district’s hiring strategy, students and their parents were concerned that their school may close down or merge with another next school year. Wayne announced plans earlier this year to possibly close schools as a solution to deal with declining enrollment and consolidate resources.
Many teachers and parents of students spoke during public comment, describing the anxiety caused after hearing that their school may be shut down.
“This was by far the most stressful time I have ever had of choosing a preschool because I had to choose one that I hope wouldn’t be closed,” said Rionda Batiste, a parent with several children who have been attending schools in the district. “Parents need transparency. We need to be partners in this process.”
The purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was for Wayne to present how the district plans to decide which schools will be selected to close.
The criteria for developing the portfolio would center around a school’s measure of equity, excellence and effective use of resources. Wayne was planning to announce which schools would be closing on Sept. 18.
However, the board was not satisfied with Wayne’s plan, criticizing the lack of details and clear explanations.
“There’s not enough clarity for me as a commissioner to take this and be ready to make a vote,” said commissioner Kevine Boggess. “I would expect at this point for us to have a plan for all of our students who are behind, who are off track and are way behind their peers. A plan to support them through this process, knowing that school closures and school mergers have a negative impact on their outcomes.”
The board was not convinced that the closures and mergers would sufficiently improve the educational experience of students, especially people of color who have been historically harmed under the city’s past instances of school closures.
“I was on the board when we closed over 10 schools back in the day, 20 years ago, where we had no equity process whatsoever,” said commissioner Mark Sanchez. “It was just based on enrollment factors alone and we disproportionately negatively impacted African American families and students in the process.”
New trustee urges board to ‘get this right’
Commissioner Phil Kim suggested that Wayne not present a final portfolio on Sept. 18 because of the lack of details. Kim was appointed to the board last week by Mayor London Breed after previous board president Lainie Motamedi stepped down.
“I strongly believe that we should not present a portfolio,” he said. “We are not prepared to answer all of these questions and have a defensible plan in place. I would much rather see us take the time that we need to actually get this right than try to meet a deadline.”
If Wayne does develop a portfolio containing which schools would be subject to closure or merging, parents of students and school staff can expect to get letters and text messages as a notification.
“We will be sending letters directly to families and staff of schools that are affected by school closures with information about what they can expect that fall, including planning for a family meeting the following day at all the affected schools,” said district spokesperson Laura Dudnick. “We’ll be preparing text messages as well to help reach families. We’ll make sure that the messages are all translated and accessible on our website.”
The board ultimately wanted Wayne to come back with a more comprehensive plan that would make them confident that school closures would have positive educational outcomes for students.
“We’re not just going to do something to meet a deadline but we’re actually going to make sure we get it right,” Alexander said. “That’s the fundamental message here. Let’s get it right for our students and take the time we need to do that.”
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