Request to SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Su & Commissioner Lam (11/16/24)

SF Parent Coalition sent the following letter and request to Superintendent Dr. Su and Commissioner Jenny Lam on 11/16/24, requesting a fiscal health update and transparent plans and communication from the Board of Education by 11/22/24

Dear Superintendent Dr. Su and Commissioner Lam,

Because of the cancellation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fiscal Operational Health, the outdated information on the Fiscal Operational Health website, the impending budget deadline in December, and the Board of Education president’s unresponsiveness to our email on 10/18 asking for information on progress towards the BOE’s commitments and goals, SF Parent Coalition is writing to respectfully request a status update on:

(1) the date of the last update to the SFUSD Dashboard on Fiscal and Operational Health; (please correct us if 9/3/2024 is incorrect)

(2) the date at which the public can expect the next update to the SFUSD Dashboard on Fiscal and Operational Health;

(3) clear, transparent plans for how the school board is providing support to and holding accountable the district to ensure a December budget balancing plan that is both compliant with state requirements and ties dollars to SFUSD’s vision, values, goals, and guardrails for improved student outcomes.

The public has been kept in the dark about ANY progress made by the Board of Education this fall on budget stabilization monitoring, risk assessment, and corrective actions needed to minimize risk. The fiscal health committee’s stated goal of ensuring “the public sees what progress is being made toward fiscal and operational priorities” was significantly off track this fall, before it was finally disbanded. We are concerned that, during this high stakes moment for SFUSD’s current fiscal year review and budget planning for FY 2025-26, the school board has missed this opportunity to provide this critical oversight role. Furthermore, with Jackie Chen’s sudden departure from her role as Head Financial Officer and with senior leadership staff morale at a low, we are worried that SFUSD does not have the stability nor the collaborative environment needed to accomplish the immediate task at hand.

While we understand that this is a time of transition of top SFUSD leadership, we believe that continued, timely reporting of Fiscal and Operational Health Dashboard items, and regular, transparent communication about fiscal health and progress towards goals, are imperative to regain and retain full local control of SFUSD’s budget, to provide transparency to SFUSD families and community, and to ensure SFUSD is making budget decisions that enable greater progress towards our vision for the education we provide to our 49,000 students. We greatly appreciate hearing your response to our request for a status update by Friday, November 22nd, 2024.

Respectfully,
Meredith Dodson on behalf of SF Parent Coalition
CC: SF Parent Coalition Board of Directors: Jennie Herriot-Hatfield, Clifford Yee, Yvette Edwards, Seth Brenzel, Jennifer Sam