Email to Dr. Wayne re: RAI

By meredith | September 18, 2024

Hi Dr. Wayne,

On Sunday, before the news of SFUSD’s delayed closure announcement, we sent you a document of questions sourced from SFUSD families across the city within our SF Parent Coalition network. Those questions focused on the plans and “non-negotiables” for impacted families at schools on the school closure list. Since the news broke that SFUSD is delaying the closure announcement, we sourced a new set of questions from families, in response to their frustration about the last minute change in plans and their anxiety around not knowing what happens next. Their anxiety stems from a combination of things: the state of our understaffed schools and classrooms without teachers / SPED students without para support, the looming state takeover if we don’t fix the budget this year, and the frustrating CDE hiring freeze. Parents want to understand how and when SFUSD plans to fix this budget crisis, and more details about the new timeline for the school closure list. 

Please find this new list of questions from families, below and attached.

If someone on your team can help provide answers to as many questions as possible, we are addressing our community this Friday 9/20 at 12 pm via Zoom, and will bring those answers to them. Please let us know if there’s someone we can follow up with directly. Thank you for your attention to this.

Respectfully,

Meredith, on behalf of SF Parent Coalition   

CC: Mayor’s Office, SF Board of Education, DCYF Dr. Maria Su, SF Parent Coalition Board

Setting the stage: 

Families & school communities are in limbo: Unsure whether to proceed with school enrollment fair, school tours, Student Success Fund grant proposals, PTO fundraising, community building efforts, etc.

Teachers & staff are in limbo: Starting to look for new jobs, unclear what, if any, staff will still be hired at schools that are lacking core staff (SDC teachers, social workers)

Kids are underserved: Many schools are understaffed and unable to fill critical positions, including SPED, because of the delays caused by the state’s involvement.

There is also a growing concern that the upcoming elementary school zoning changes will cause further negative disruption for families. 

There’s a need for greater transparency and a clear plan presented to the community. Families are asking urgent questions around:

  1. Budget Cuts and Financial Planning:
    • What are the district’s concrete plans to make non-student-facing budget cuts, and how will they address the fact that school closures were not expected to make a significant financial impact? 
    • What measures are they putting in place to operate more effectively? 
    • When can we expect them to start to hit their {state-imposed} deadlines? 
    • Who is responsible for RAI oversight now, including the operational aspects, the communication aspects, and the political aspects?
  2. Staffing and Hiring Challenges:
    • How is the district addressing the hiring freeze that has left many schools without Special Education teachers, social workers, and counselors? 
    • Will currently employed staff be reassigned, or will some positions be reduced to part-time to meet the needs of schools?
  3. School Closures and Realignment:
    • When will the district release the list of schools that are closing? 
    • How will SFUSD handle empty buildings, staff reassignment, and the transition of students? 
    • Will families have clarity on school selection and placement at the same time as the list release?
    • Many schools are lacking promised foundational staffing such as a full time social worker; not from an inability to hire but due to lack of budget/hiring freeze. How can families be CERTAIN that the schools that remain after realignment will be fully staffed with credentialed teachers, social workers, family liaisons and SpED teachers? 
  4. Board of Education
    • What are they doing to ensure they will get a “yes” vote on their plan from the BOE? Releasing the list without an assurance that it will get passed is just cruel. I want a guarantee that families aren’t going to suffer for nothing.
    • Is it possible to move the BOE vote up to avoid 2-3 months of painful uncertainty?
  5. Communication and Transparency:
    • There was a concerning delay in notifying families about the postponement of school closure announcements (no mass email, text, voicemail). How will the district ensure that families and staff are informed of such delays in the future?
  6. Special Education and Compliance:
    • What is the district’s plan to resolve ongoing staffing issues in Special Education, where some SDC classrooms have no teachers? 
    • How will SFUSD meet its legal obligations to provide Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) given these challenges?
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