7/29/25 – SF BOE Meeting Summary
7/29/25 BOE Meeting Notes
The two primary issues discussed tonight were the Dragon’s Gate charter school petition and the vote to approve buying new ethnic studies materials for the 2025-2026 pilot year. Both were contentious, as expected, but unexpectedly, there were procedural snafus for each item, most notably Commissioner Ray trying to table the vote on the latter, but was not given the chance to do so.
The Dragon’s Gate Petition was shared by parent Brian Hollinger, outlining their case in this presentation and this statement. As required by law, charter school petitions get dedicated time to present their case, gauge community interest, and have separate public comment – tonight was a hearing, no board vote until next month.
- The petitioners’ main point is that demand is high, and that currently SFUSD doesn’t provide enough ways to access Mandarin Immersion
- A fair number of parents called in prior during public comment to voice their support for the new school
- There were also comments in opposition to the charter school.
- Process & timeline:
- After tonight’s meeting, district staff will review and present findings 8/11 publicly
- BOE will hold a decision hearing 8/26
- Full charter school process can be found here
- During the dedicated public hearing, the majority of comments were from parents calling in with concerns about siphoning of District funds and students from the district
- There seemed to be procedural confusion, as a number of supporters of Dragon’s Gate were not aware that they would get a chance to comment later during this meeting, and left early
The Ethnic Studies plan was presented by Dr. Su and Devin Krugman, which would culminate in a vote to approve purchase of the materials for a 1 year pilot.
- Dr. Su agreed that the home-grown curriculum that was in place prior was problematic, but reiterated that the district is keeping the graduation requirement
- Her 2 non-negotiables in selecting replacement curriculum were that materials be:
- state-standard aligned
- published by a reputable publisher (in print and online)
- they only found one solution that met requirements
- District counsel confirmed that this is a pilot of the specific Voices curriculum, and there will be lengthy review for future years
- The District is adding an administrative function to monitor and review any modifications to curriculum from teachers adding in other materials
- The District is offering Office Hours to review curriculum, but cannot release it publicly because of copyright. Commissioner Ray raised that she asked to see the materials prior to today, and was not given the opportunity to do so, nor was there a webinar to preview it.
- SFUSD’s website has posted the ethnic studies process, including how to attend Office Hours
- Opt-Out: 9th graders can opt-out for this year, and there are other courses in 11th and 12th grade students can take to fulfill the ethnic studies graduation requirement, as well as potential opportunities to take classes that fulfill the requirement at City College. Commissioner Ray pointed ou that, these currently seem to be limited to just one course at 2 high schools. The District responded that they will review the curricula to see what else might be added, and that City College courses can also count
- Opt-Out: The District also said that the 9th grade schedules as presented to students are preliminary, and they anticipate many of them will adjust and potentially opt-out of the ethnic studies class. They assured the BOE that they were ready for that possibility with alternatives available for 9th graders to switch to.
- Commissioner Ray was concerned both about the process and about switching to new curriculum at the last minute, with teachers just getting one day of PD to acclimate
- District staff also said there would be additional support throughout the year
The procedural issue happened at the end of all this. To start the discussion, many of the commissioners took several minutes to state their concerns / support and ask questions, including Commissioner Ray. Eventually, President Kim said that all the Commissioners would be able to ask one question at a time until they were done.. But after allowing for a few additional questions (including one from Commissioner Ray), President Kim called for a vote to approve the curriculum purchase. He moved to vote on it, Vice President Huling seconded it, and then Commissioner Ray tried to table the vote, but was procedurally prevented from doing so. Commissioner Ray was clearly unhappy, and the back and forth between the Commissioners felt contentious.
Ultimately the Board voted 5-2 to approve the purchase of materials for the pilot, with Gupta and Ray as the “No” votes.
Regardless of one’s position on ethnic studies / specific curricula, the district was well-organized tonight, had good answers for the many questions lobbed their way, and seem to have a much more organized process to review this for next year, which is a welcomed change.
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