SF Parent Coalition believes that a Board of Education held accountable by a large and diverse group of parents will be responsive to the needs of children and families and focused on the Board’s core responsibilities. A Board that is responsive to the needs of students will adopt and promote policies identified as top priorities for SFUSD families. Our current priorities were identified by families during the 2021-22 school year. SF Parent Coalition will evaluate school board members using a rubric developed from this platform: 

1. Focusing on student outcomes: The district and individual schools should develop and implement plans to address the unfinished learning and social-emotional needs of our students after more than a year of school closures, and exhibit leadership around elevating the importance of district-wide and school-level student achievement monitoring and analysis.
2. Ensuring joyful learning experiences and adherence to public health guidance: Children’s school experiences should be consistent across the district, and include any and all student programming and family engagement activities that had previously been paused due to COVID-19. The District should automatically adhere to public health guidelines as they evolve.
3. Addressing the budget deficit: The Board of Education need to make the tough budget decisions necessary to prevent a state takeover of SFUSD and to prioritize children’s learning. These cuts must be student-centered and realistic.
4. Transparency and accountability. The Board of Education and SFUSD should see parents as partners in our children's education. As a community we cannot make hard budget decisions tied to student outcomes if we don't have clear data and information on what is happening at our schools.

In order to achieve these priorities, the Board must commit to effective, focused governance practices, by:

1. Prioritizing student learning and achievement as their primary focus at every meeting, focused on evidence-based practices and instruction.
2. Setting the district’s annual budget and managing the district’s finances responsibly.
3. Governing professionally, according to the standards set out in the Board’s official Rules and Procedures. Board members should attend relevant training sessions.
4. Board members should commit themselves to best practices such as identified characteristics of an effective school board, especially leading as a team with the superintendent and being collaborative with staff and the community.
5. Listening to and incorporating perspectives from the parent and caregiver community, with an emphasis on capturing voices missed by current SFUSD structures and greater transparency in general.

Ultimately, an SF Unified Board that is more responsive to the needs of children and families and more focused on the Board’s core responsibilities will be better able to support SFUSD staff to increase equity and improve outcomes for students. The Board we envision will have the tools to build the world-class public school system that enables all of our students to thrive.