Newsletter October 15, 2021 (English)

By Kit Hodge | October 15, 2021

What’s Up With The SFUSD Budget Crisis?
A Q&A with former Commissioner Rachel Norton

Wednesday, October 20th, 7-8 pm

Former School Board Commissioner Rachel Norton will be joining us to answer YOUR questions about the SFUSD budget crisis and threat of state takeover of the school district. What is happening? How will it impact our schools/my kids? Can this be solved and what should we be looking for from the Board and District staff right now? Rachel will be joining for the first 30 minutes of the event. In the second half, we’ll be covering other pressing issues within SFUSD, including topics of your choice.

RSVP!

School News

Board of Education looking more closely at the district’s reading instruction. It’s great to see the Board and District discussing what can be done to improve SFUSD’s upsetting reading outcomes. The district’s staff have offered to meet SF Parent Coalition families (you!) to share efforts now underway to improve literacy instruction in the district, including an overview of the data and research informing that work. More on that soon. In the meantime, Commissioners Collins and Lopez just introduced a resolution this week that, with some significant amendments in keeping with the original draft from the Special Education Community Advisory Committee, could help hold the district accountable to improving reading instruction. Read our statement on the proposed legislation here. The resolution will next be going to the Board of Education Curriculum Committee for discussion and recommendation.
- Parent Tip: How do I make sure my elementary age kid is on track to read (well)? Check out this presentation of resources by Megan Potente, Co-State Director of Decoding Dyslexia CA. Big take away: Be on the lookout for whether your kid is able to “decode” words, and isn’t relying on pictures or context clues to guess words. Click through the presentation for tools on how. Megan is also answering your questions in our Facebook group here. Thank you, Megan!
Enrollment continues to decline in SFUSD–let’s turn it around. SFUSD has released updated enrollment data and, as many predicted, the numbers aren’t good. While we are seeing similar declines in public school enrollment across the state, there is no excuse for not asking why this is happening in San Francisco and what is in the school district’s power to attract families back to public schools. Geek out on the numbers here.
Shining (a passionate) light on facility improvements. At Tuesday’s special Board of Education meeting, the Commissioners spent hours discussing how to reallocate bond money for facilities in order to meet pressing needs, including a school in desperate need of safety work. Though the Board was not able to vote on the proposals (it will likely be voted on just after this newsletter goes press), right now it looks like money will be shifted away from upgrading 135 Van Ness (the planned sight of a renovated Ruth Asawa School of the Arts) and into upgrading Buena Vista Horace Mann, building the promised Mission Bay school, Green Schoolyards and outdoor classrooms, Columbine locks for all relevant schools and air purifiers. Read the full details here, as well as a proposal from Commissioner Alexander on an alternative proposal.
This week’s SFUSD budget facts. We know the conversation about the SFUSD budget crisis is complicated and confusing, so we’re going to do our best to share contextual facts as they arise; the intuitive, the surprising, and the sometimes hard to hear. There are worlds of conversations to be had around each piece of data, why this is and what it does and does not mean. Nonetheless, we are committed to sharing out vetted facts–without valence–to keep you informed.
- Fact 1: Every SFUSD school is supposed to lay out how it spends its official district money (not PTA money) in its annual School Plan for Student Achievement. Get links to your school’s document here (bottom of the overview sheet).
- Fact 2: SF’s public schools are some of the highest funded schools across California. We’re number one of the largest 25 districts, and number five across the whole state.
- Fact 3: Our School Board and District have until December 15th of this school year to determine a plan to cut over $125 million from next year’s budget. Two weeks ago our School Board was unable to agree to a recommendation by staff that would’ve saved the district $5 million.

Information compiled and graphed by an SF parent, from source.

Superintendent search moves forward. Did you know that Superintendent Matthews will be retiring from SFUSD at the end of next year, per prior agreement? We’ll be keeping a close eye on the search for a new superintendent. Right now, the Board of Education is working on selecting a recruiting firm to begin the official search.

Happenings

*This Saturday,* October 16th, 10 am-1 pm: Stop by our table at the Children’s Council Fair!
October 20, 7:30-8:30 pm: After our meeting, hop over to the Second District PTA 411 on student assignment policy change planning.
October 28, 6-8 pm: A conversation on dyslexia with special guest Kareem Weaver, hosted by Special Education Community Advisory Committee, AAPAC, Decoding Dyslexia CA and Support for Families. Learn more about the intersection of reading curriculum policy and equity. Register here.
October 31, 3-6 pm: Trick or Treat on The Great HauntWay, hosted by Kidsafe SF. We’ll be tabling!