3/24/26 Board of Education Meeting Summary
Public comment raised concerns about recent ICE activity, declining 3rd grade literacy outcomes, and funding gaps tied to the district’s move to 7-period schedules.
Progress Monitoring: 3rd Grade Literacy
SFUSD remains significantly off track on its 3rd grade literacy goal, with proficiency declining from 53.1% in the fall to 51.8% in January. Only about 67% of K–5 classrooms are using the adopted reading curriculum, and there are no clear expectations or systems in place to ensure consistent use across schools.
Discussion between district staff focused primarily on improving coaching systems and teacher collaboration. Specifically:
- Clarifying expectations for instructional coaches
- Increasing the cadence of coaching cycles
- Continuing bi-monthly coach training
Assistant Superintendent Devin Krugman noted that schools with stronger implementation tend to have:
- Weekly teacher collaboration structures
- Coaches working closely with teachers on lesson planning
What stood out: While these practices were identified, there was limited discussion of how the district will ensure these conditions exist across all schools—or how it will hold sites accountable for consistent implementation.
Progress Monitoring: 8th grade math
Discussion of math progress monitoring was limited, and did not match the urgency of the data. District staff highlighted an increase in curriculum adoption to 87%, but this was based on a very small sample of 13–15 classrooms, raising questions about whether this reflects system-wide improvement.
At the same time, prior data shows:
- Only about half of classrooms are on pace
- Fewer classrooms demonstrate strong instructional practices
There was little discussion of instructional quality or how the district plans to improve consistency across classrooms. The conversation moved quickly to Algebra policy, leaving key questions about math instruction largely unaddressed.
Action item: Revise SFUSD’s Math Placement Policy (presentation link, revised Board Policy link, Algebra I report link – this last is the Stanford study summary that was presented at the meeting)
The Board approved SFUSD’s revised Math Placement Policy for middle schools, expanding access to Algebra I in 8th grade through multiple pathways:
- Expanded Math (at 19 middle and K–8 schools):
Students who meet academic criteria are automatically enrolled in both Math 8 and Algebra I- Students may opt out of Algebra I and take Math 8 only
- Students may opt out of Math 8 and enroll only in Algebra I, with counselor consultation and family consent
- Elective pathway:
Students who do not meet criteria may choose Algebra I as an elective - Compression pathway (at Hoover MS and Alice Fong Yu K–8):
Students are enrolled in an accelerated sequence covering Math 6–8 and Algebra I over three years
To support the recommendation, the district presented findings from a Stanford study. The key takeaway: students who took Algebra alongside Math 8 (rather than skipping ahead) had stronger outcomes, with 9% repeating Algebra in 9th grade compared to 19% under Algebra for All.
The discussion was extensive and surfaced both alignment and tension among commissioners:
- Commissioners Huling and Ray emphasized that expanding access allows more students to experience Algebra
- Commissioner Fisher noted that Algebra access is not directly aligned to the district’s 8th grade math goal, which is based on Math 8 performance
- There was broad agreement that families need to be “robustly informed” about their options
At the same time, several implementation challenges were raised:
- Scheduling will be complex, as students are initially placed in Math 8 + Algebra and then may opt in or out of different pathways
- In response to questions about staffing, Dr. Su noted that HR is still determining whether the district has enough credentialed math teachers, given the variability in student enrollment
There was also a notable exchange between Commissioners Alexander and Huling about the role of the Board, with disagreement over whether amendments represented appropriate oversight or overreach into the Superintendent’s responsibilities.
The Amendment proposed by Huling specifically
- Allows more students access to the opt out of 8th Grade Math by lowering the threshold from 4s in both fall and winter STAR reports to a minimum success threshold on Winter SBAC or STAR (likely a 3)
- Allows counseling requirement to be met in 7th grade, so students are ready to register at the start of 8th
- Requires a uniform opt-out assessment for students who transfer in 8th grade
Vote on Amendment (Passes 4-3)
Yes – Ray, Huling, Kim, Gupta
No – Alexander, Weissman-Ward, Fisher
Vote on the Math Placement Policy (Passes 4-3)
Yes – Ray, Huling, Kim, Gupta
No – Alexander, Weissman-Ward, Fisher
Adding 5 instructional days to School Year 2025-26 (proposed calendar link, cover letter link)
UESF and SEIU Local 1021 proposed adding 5 instructional days this school year to address lost learning time, while UASF proposed distributing those days over the next three years. The proposal voted on is the UESF/SEIU version.
Commissioners Gupta, Ray, and Huling all pointed out how the proposed calendar was not at all family/student friendly
- Gupta and Huling signaled that they will vote for it because UESF won’t agree with the UASF proposal (2 days this year), and as a fiduciary, Huling is concerned about ADA days/funding
- Huling also concerned about the negative impact on summer programs from community partners when families cancel that first week of camp
- Ray vocalized the common concern that parents and teacher share – that many students will not show up. She also shared that is highly problematic message to be sending as an institution that attendance matters, then schedule days that will likely have minimal impactful instruction.
Vote on revised calendar (Passes 6-1)
Yes – Huling, Alexander, Kim, Weissman-Ward, Gupta, Fisher
No – Ray