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Dear SFUSD Champions and Supporters, It has been a busy week in the world of SFUSD advocacy. Tuesday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting answered some emerging questions about the budget, staffing, and BOE governance, but also left us with several remaining open issues. This week SF Parents also held our first community meeting of the new school year, where we were joined by the Superintendent and senior staff who shared timely information and answered parent questions. Read on for a check-in on what is happening in the district, and what we are focused on moving forward.
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The Budget
The 9/9 BOE meeting gave parents and teachers our first window of the school year into the current state of the budget. SFUSD’s new Deputy Superintendent of Business Services & Operations, Chris Mount-Benites, shared a “where we are now” snapshot: the projected 2025–26 deficit is about $54M, roughly
$3.5M higher than had been projected, driven largely by a $31M spring under estimate of salary costs. He also shared his vision and past experience with creating budget dashboards and moving districts towards better use of vacant real estate. Our thoughts : SF Parents has been pushing the district for nearly a year to bring back and improve its public-facing dashboard, to clearly and transparently track progress towards solvency. We also understand that the district has received dedicated funding from a foundation to build this tool. This fall, our Parent Solvers team —a group of parents working side-by-side with the district to tackle problems that matter most to families—is making this dashboard a top priority. Our goal is to finally bring transparency to how the district is progressing on its path out of partial state oversight. Local control = local decisionmaking for our city’s kids.
Staffing Updates
The district also shared data on staffing that we highlighted in our last newsletter , showing that fully staffed classrooms climbed from 79% last year to 95% this August; teachers on emergency credentials dropped to 93 (from 203), and sub coverage for remaining vacancies rose to 97%. The hardest seats to fill remain TK and SPED, including dozens of open classroom and specialist roles. Our thoughts : As mentioned in our last newsletter, we are pleased to see so much progress in this area, but also continue to be concerned about filling full-time teacher vacancies especially in the classrooms serving our most vulnerable students. We will be following staffing closely, and we’d love to hear from you how it is going at your school. You can reply to this email or share in our Facebook Forum .
Board Governance
Over the past five years, some of our most important advocacy has been to hold the board accountable to a strong focus on student outcomes . SF Parents is tracking new concerns this school year about board governance, unclear processes and shifting policies, and the tone and tenor set by board leadership. Earlier this week we sent a letter to all commissioners addressing questions many of you raised. Our message: be transparent, consistent, and collaborative. We urged the board to publicly explain agenda shifts, redacted materials, and process changes, while keeping statutory deadlines on a predictable schedule. Most importantly, we called for commissioners to work together collaboratively rather than attacking each other—infighting only undermines their ability to lead for our 49,000 students. These important goals of any elected board help improve trust with the community. It was a relief to hear both Commissioners Ray and Alexander corroborate some of these concerns at the 9/9 meeting. We also heard back from President Phil Kim that he agrees with the concerns raised and is eager to address this with families and the community. Stay tuned. If you want to go deeper into BOE meetings and our reviews of them, check out our BOE Cheat Sheets and Summaries on our website. |
SF Parents held its first community meeting of the year yesterday. Over 50 parents attended to hear from Superintendent Maria Su and Interim Associate Superintendent of Student Services Teresa Shipp on their goals for the district this year, and on progress so far. The bulk of our meeting focused on updates from Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Devin Krugman on implementation progress with the new math and literacy curricula across K-8 classrooms. Some key takeaways:
- SFUSD has no district-wide elementary homework policy, and schools have individual approaches, but the new math curriculum offers multiple homework options if schools and teachers choose to use them.
- 60%+ of teachers participated in the summer training on the new math curriculum, which was higher than expected and celebrated by SFUSD.
- Teachers are receiving compensation for professional learning hours related to the new curriculum (Prop G and other mechanisms). SFUSD’s goal is to offer ongoing engagement and regular professional learning opportunities.
- Many of these wins, including the adoption of strong new curricula, the push for teacher training, and the support for professional learning, are the direct result of parent-led advocacy through our SF Kids Can’t Wait campaign. They show what’s possible when families work together for change.
Krugman also referenced future plans for improved, standards-based 9-12th grade curricula, and shared information on assessment and support systems for students in need and how these will be prioritized despite budget and staffing cuts. If you missed the meeting you can catch the recording here .
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Math in SFUSD is changing and families are essential partners in student success . Join our three-part workshop series to understand what’s new, how the new curriculum works at each grade level, and the most effective ways you can support your child’s learning outside the classroom. You’ll leave each session with practical tools, clear takeaways, and connections with other families. Session 1: Making Sense of the New Curriculum — 10/16 Session 2: What Math Success Looks Like — 11/13 Session 3: Looking Ahead With a Plan — 1/15 Together, we’ll help your child finish the year strong and step into the next grade with confidence.
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As always, thank you for your support of SF Parents. As we launch into the new school year and celebrate five years of parent-powered advocacy and impact for SFUSD’s students , we will continue sharing updates like this one, wins from our parent-led campaigns, and more opportunities for you to get involved in shaping the future of SFUSD for our city’s public school kids. In community, Meredith & the SF Parents Team
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Shout out to Cecilia Le, SFUSD mom and parent leader on our high school/middle school committee! She took the initiative last spring to encourage SFUSD to apply for the CA College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) grant. She and another committee leader, Rex Ridgeway, met with the district to give input on the proposal and on opportunities to expand dual enrollment. The result? SFUSD was awarded its first-ever CCAP grant: $100,000 that can be used over four years to expand access to dual enrollment for high school students! Dual enrollment gives students an opportunity to take college classes while they’re in high school which can help them get a head start on college credits, save them time and money, and build their confidence for higher ed and career pathways. This is a huge win for our students’ college and career pathways, and a powerful example of the impact parents can have in shaping opportunities for SFUSD students. Interested in joining our high school/middle school committee? Email Geri@sfparents.org and let her know.
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