It’s that time of year! We’re seeing the fall wave of new-to-SFUSD parents join social media forums and attend information sessions to learn about the lottery process at SFUSD. Missed SF Parent Coalition’s recent Lunch & Learn: Demystifying SFUSD’s Enrollment Process with SFUSD’s enrollment center and parents who’ve gone through the process? No worries, you can watch here!
Veteran SFUSD parents: You might be more interested in our December 5th Monthly Meeting on all things SFUSD budget, with special guests Superintendent Maria Su and a representative from the district’s budget department. Learn about changes to the budget–including major cuts to staffing–and ask about impacts to our schools and students. RSVP here.
Board of Education election results
Congratulations to the four winners of the S.F Board of Education election: Jaime Huling, Parag Gupta, Supryia Ray, and Matt Alexander. We are excited to continue our work with existing board members and to now have three new leaders to work with. SF Parent Coalition holds accountable all seven Board of Education members to making progress towards our shared vision for improved student outcomes in math, literacy, and career and college readiness.
Our newly elected leaders must understand the chaos that so many families felt this fall, the lack of trust with the school board and district currently, and the frustration around the lack of transparency about decisions that are being made. We expect the new members to bring strong leadership and cooperation with each other and with parents to get to the results our kids deserve.
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What grade would you give the S.F. School Board? 📝
We’re kicking up a notch our school board accountability work, which was initiated by grassroots parent volunteers and advocates in 2020. After the school board challenges this past fall, we realize how important it is to keep that important work going. How effective do you think the school board’s leadership has been for SF’s public school kids in recent months? Follow along for regular updates and assessments of school board progress towards their committed goals and towards parent priorities. Want to help us track their progress? Email us at [email protected].
Training & Onboarding for the Newbies
With three new board members starting this January, and also a brand new superintendent in place, SFUSD has much work to do to get our new education leaders trained up and ready to roll up their sleeves. We’re asking:
- What’s the onboarding plan, for both the new superintendent and the three new commissioners-elect?
- What trainings will they complete and by when–especially school finance and general governance trainings–and is SFUSD budgeting for these?
- What’s the progress monitoring plan, not just for SFUSD’s senior team to make progress towards our student outcomes goals, but for the new superintendent and new board members to hold themselves accountable to effective governance and strong leadership?
Given the recent instability at SFUSD that has created enormous risk to our schools and our students, we hope to see transparency around the Superintendent’s and Board President’s plan for ensuring complete and appropriate training, onboarding, and accountability.
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When we know, we can help
SFUSD families care deeply about our schools. We’re ready to pitch in during tough times. But first, we need clear, honest information about what’s happening with the district’s budget.
When it comes to transparency, parents have seen none of that this fall. With the chaos that occurred over the last few months, the conversation focused largely on school closure issues, but very little on budget fixes necessary to regain full local control of our schools. (This past June, SFUSD lost its ability to decide additional expenditures beyond what the state approves in our budget. This lack of partial control is the result of kicking the can down the road, for far too long.)
Unlike typical budget seasons where we see SFUSD leadership team members bring budget plans out for public discussion, parents and teachers have been in the dark this fall about how SFUSD plans to strengthen fiscal controls and improve resource allocation to student learning. We will keep asking: what is SFUSD’s commitment to a baseline of excellence across all of our schools, as they plan for cuts?
Avoiding Bankruptcy
To be sure, our schools need more money from California and the federal government. We’ll keep fighting for that. But in the immediate term, SFUSD must make smart choices to protect our schools from going broke. If we ignore money problems today, they’ll only get worse tomorrow. We need to see a budget this December that both meets state requirements AND prioritizes funding allocations to support student learning.
At the upcoming December 10th Board of Education meeting, here’s what we’ll be listening for:
- Does our spending for ’24-25 (“unaudited actuals”) and the balancing plan for ’25-26 and ’26-27 fulfill state requirements?
- Does the district provide information about what trade-offs were considered and what decisions were made during the balancing and planning process?
- Does the district share analyses about how these decisions will impact student learning, teacher supports, and how the budget is in alignment with making progress towards SFUSD’s 2027 goals for our students?
These are big questions, and we’ll be finding out the answers for you. Don’t miss our December 5th community meeting for a Budget Preview with SFUSD’s Superintendent and Budget Department: RSVP HERE.
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SFUSD does better and stays more focused on students when parents are active and involved. Here are some ways you can boost your parent leadership and advocacy for excellent, equitable schools:
- Are you–or do you know someone–at a school that was on SFUSD’s school closure list this fall? We want to hear from impacted families through this brief survey! If SFUSD ever puts school closures back on the table, they need to understand the parent and student experience. We’re compiling parent feedback across schools so we can ensure SFUSD understands the negative impact that was felt broadly across the city as they unveiled a very troubled plan. Please share the form with your school or email us to set up a school meeting.
- School Plans for Student Achievement — Read yours! And, ask about it at your next SSC meeting.
- “SSC” Meeting? Learn more about School Site Councils here, and then look for signs around your school about when your next meeting is. Everyone is welcome to attend.
As always, let us know if you have any questions. We’re here to inform, engage and connect families across SFUSD, to ensure thriving, equitable schools for our city’s 49,000 public school students.
In community,
Meredith Dodson
Executive Director, SF Parent Coalition
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SF Parent Coalition is a 501c3 nonprofit that centers the needs of children and youth in San Francisco public schools by bringing together a diverse network of parents and caregivers to advocate for a thriving, equitable school system.
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