SFUSD BOE Meeting Cheat Sheet – 5/12/2026
Public commenting is an important opportunity to make your powerful voice heard.
Let the S.F. Board of Education and SFUSD Leadership know how parents and caregivers feel, how the district can do better for our city’s kids, our teachers, and our schools! Learn more about how to attend a meeting or make a public comment here.
Please note that as SF Parents is focused on our core issues, we only do the summary/takes on the most pertinent agenda items related to our advocacy campaigns. If you see that something on the BOE agenda is omitted, it is likely for this reason.
5/12/2026 Regular Meeting: Monitoring Workshop at 6:30pm:
- Full meeting agenda on BoardDocs here.
- Zoom link here – Password: 345353.
- Agenda summary from SF Parent Coalition follows below.
SF PARENT’S SUMMARY:
SFUSD is returning to “positive” fiscal certification for its 3rd Interim Report. Now that its budget is looking more stable, SFUSD will be presenting plans to address student assignment and identify school closures, mergers, and co-locations.
Item H.1 Third Interim Financial Report for SFUSD FY 2025-26 (presentation here and report here)
What is the Third Interim Financial Report?
The California Department of Education (CDE) requires districts with a “qualified” or “negative” certification to submit a Third Interim Financial Report in May.
Where does SFUSD stand now?
- SFUSD’s First and Second Interim Reports projected a “qualified” certification. As of April 30, 2026, SFUSD now projects a “positive” certification.
- Key updates include:
- The 2025-26 Restricted General Fund (RGF) was previously projected to have a -$44.5 million deficit. Through eliminating vacant positions and reducing services and supplies, SFUSD now projects a $25 million surplus in the RGF
- The 2025-26 Unrestricted General Fund (UGF) was previously projected to have a -$49.5 million deficit. SFUSD reduced the UGF deficit through staffing reductions, vacancy savings, and operational cuts, despite $3.1 million in tentative labor agreements
Our Take
- A major advocacy priority for SF Parents this year was ensuring SFUSD returned to a positive certification by the end of the school year in order to avoid deeper fiscal instability, increased state intervention risk, and ongoing uncertainty for schools and families. Reaching this milestone is an important step for the district.
- SFUSD deserves credit for doing difficult work over several years to stabilize its finances. The district has implemented new HR and payroll systems, strengthened financial oversight, and moved toward a more centralized staffing model. These changes have not been easy and have involved painful reductions across the system.
- At the same time, this is not the end of SFUSD’s financial challenges. The district still faces a structural budget deficit, meaning ongoing expenses continue to outpace recurring revenue. Declining enrollment, rising Special Education costs, and pension obligations will continue to create financial pressure in future years.
Item H.3 Employment Contracts for District Executive Employees
SFUSD is presenting employment contracts for two key leadership positions:
Our Take
Both of these are critical leadership roles as SFUSD works to stabilize district operations and improve student outcomes.
The Associate Superintendent of Human Resources will play an important role in staffing systems, hiring, labor relations, and ensuring schools are appropriately supported during ongoing budget and enrollment changes.
The Deputy Superintendent of Education Services role is especially important as SFUSD continues implementing new literacy and math initiatives, curriculum changes, and instructional reforms. Throughout this entire school year, SF Parents has consistently advocated for SFUSD to move toward a permanent Deputy Superintendent of Education Services position in order to provide stronger instructional coherence, stability, and accountability across the district.
We hope this role helps continue to develop a more coherent instructional strategy across SFUSD so that schools, educators, and families experience greater consistency, clarity, and alignment around academic priorities.
Item G.1 Major Decisions Discussion – School Portfolio and Student Assignment (presentation here)
SFUSD presented a long-term roadmap for major district decisions across the next four school years.
Proposed Timeline
2026-27 Program expansions for:
- Early education and Transitional Kindergarten (TK)
- A new K-8 Mandarin immersion school
- Special Education county programs
2027-28 Student assignment redesign:
- New assignment criteria and enrollment policies will be developed and presented to the Board
2028-29 Implementation phase:
- New student assignment policies begin
- School closures, mergers, and co-locations begin
2029-30 Ongoing alignment:
- Continued adjustments to attendance zones, enrollment patterns, and school portfolio decisions
Our Take
These will likely become some of the most significant and emotional decisions SFUSD has made in decades. SFUSD must learn from other districts that have undergone school closures and consolidation processes. Families need clear timelines, transparent decision-making criteria, and meaningful opportunities for engagement before decisions are finalized.
Trust will be critical throughout this process. Families, educators, and school communities need to understand not only what decisions are being made, but why they are being made and how they connect to better educational opportunities for students across the city.
As a reminder – SF Parents’ community continues to demand from SFUSD:
AN INCREASED, DEMONSTRATED FOCUS ON STUDENTS: We want to see the district’s clear plan and commitment to a baseline of excellence and equity across every SFUSD school. Without clarity, analysis, and follow-through on how decisions impact student outcomes, it’s impossible to know if SFUSD is truly prioritizing what matters most—student learning and success. Through our SF Kids Can’t Wait campaign, families continue to call for urgent improvements in literacy and math outcomes for SFUSD.
GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNITY ACCESSIBILITY:
Families deserve open, honest communication about how decisions are made and how funds are spent. SFUSD must provide clear data and impact analysis for all major initiatives, including how they support student achievement. The Board should not approve budgets or plans without confidence in their accuracy or their impact on teaching and learning.
REAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND STRONG GOVERNANCE:
SFUSD must move beyond promises to consistent, measurable action. Strong governance from the Board of Education is essential to restoring trust and delivering results for students. Commissioners must remain focused on student outcomes, fiscal responsibility, and transparency, and hold district leadership accountable for following through on commitments and delivering measurable progress.