LETTER TO BOE: Urgent Call for Thoughtful Leadership and Planning

September 21, 2024

SFUSD Board of Education
555 Franklin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear Members of the Board of Education,

On behalf of SF Parent Coalition’s network of families, students, educators, and community members, we are writing to urge you to proceed at tomorrow’s closed session meeting with thoughtful leadership and careful, strategic planning. A third change in SFUSD leadership in less than a month, during a moment of fiscal crisis for SFUSD, is counterproductive, unnecessary, and further destabilizing to our district.

The public sees that you, Board of Education, may want to place blame on the superintendent in this moment, absolving yourselves of responsibility for the state of the district and avoiding making the hard decisions such as deep budget cuts. We ask you: Is such a knee-jerk reaction to a crisis moment exemplifying strong leadership for our kids and schools? 

Leaders need to lead in times of crisis. Not point fingers and play the blame game. 

It is the Board of Education’s responsibility to evaluate the performance of the superintendent and we understand it is very possible you determine over time that this current superintendent is not right for San Francisco kids, teachers, schools. However, if that is the case, we need to see the Board of Education act intentionally, thoughtfully, and strategically for WHEN and HOW to go about changing who is at the helm. Not use a moment of crisis for a quick, easy out and then put an incomplete, weak plan in its place.

What does San Francisco need from the Board of Education in this moment?

We need focused, calm, and deliberate leadership to tackle the mounting challenges ahead:

• There is a hiring crisis TODAY with unfilled social workers, teachers, special ed positions and more. Some of these positions are funded by the City, why are they being held up with the hiring freeze from the state?
• Parents, teachers and administrators are worried about Resource alignment (e.g. school closures). Will the list be released? Is the Board prepared to approve the list? If not, what is plan B?
• The District needs to cut approximately 500 full time positions in December. We haven’t seen a coherent plan to do this beyond the rushed “plan” approved by you, Board of Education, in June. How will these staffing cuts impact kids? Will this budget plan be presented to families before the Board prepares to vote on it? How are the layoff decisions impacted by Resource Alignment? Will the Board vote on Resource Alignment and the Budget proposal at the same meeting?

What do we not need from the Board of Education?
More chaos, finger-pointing, and deflection.

What do we want to see happen?

• We need to run schools TODAY, and also manage the fiscal crisis. The Board should make sure there is a superintendent in place who can–and is supported to–manage the day-to-day operating needs of the District. 
• The Board should recruit a high-quality and experienced Recovery Plan Leadership team, with a point person reporting directly to the BOE. The team should have the fiscal, communications, and political expertise to create and pass a sound budget proposal by December to avoid state takeover, AND an effective and thoughtful strategy to vet the plan with the community, labor, and other stakeholders.
• Clear support and coordination from the City, and SFUSD should welcome this help. We can’t afford to let our schools fail.

Further chaos and uncertainty are not good for kids or our schools. We ask you to slow down, take a deep breath, and focus your energy on a sensible path forward. You can and must do better for San Francisco’s 50,000 students.

Please act with the care, strategy, and long-term vision that our students, families, and educators deserve.

Respectfully,

Meredith Dodson, on behalf of SF Parents

CC: SF Parents Boards, Mayor’s Office, DCYF