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.
5/26/2026 Regular Meeting: Monitoring Workshop at 6:30pm:
- Full meeting agenda on BoardDocs here.
- Zoom link here – Password: 015871.
- Agenda summary from SF Parent Coalition follows below.
SF PARENT’S SUMMARY:
SFUSD is struggling in its implementation of the new English Language Arts curriculum, and remains SIGNIFICANTLY OFF TRACK in its 3rd grade literacy goals. SFUSD will open a Special Education program at the Edwin & Anita Lee Building to serve students with extensive support needs requiring complex behavioral and academic services.
Item F.1 Goal 1 and Guardrail 3 Progress Monitoring (presentation link here, report link here)
SFUSD remains significantly off track in meeting its early literacy goals, despite being nearly two years into implementation of its new reading curriculum. The district’s report states that student outcomes have largely plateaued and that classroom instruction “appears to have weakened compared to last year.”
Interim Goal 1.1
The percentage of African American and Pacific Islander Kindergarten students meeting grade-level literacy benchmarks increased only slightly from 52.8% to 53.8%, far below the district’s 62% target.
Interim Goal 1.2
First grade reading proficiency remained essentially flat year over year, ending at 59.0%, nearly nine percentage points below the district’s target.
The report also raises serious concerns about classroom implementation:
- Only 77% of observed Kindergarten classrooms and 87% of First grade classrooms were using the curriculum materials consistently.
- In many classrooms, students had limited opportunities to practice foundational reading skills.
- Use of decodable texts remained extremely limited.
- Observers found weak student discussion, writing, and evidence-based comprehension work in many classrooms.
The district also acknowledged that English Learner outcomes remain deeply concerning. Only 38.8% of first-grade English Learners and 52.3% of Kindergarten English Learners met grade-level benchmarks this spring.
Our Take
This report reinforces why SF Parents has spent the past year focused on implementation across the district, not just curriculum adoption.
While the district points to progress around coaching, professional learning, and use of materials, the walkthrough data makes clear that classroom implementation remains inconsistent nearly two years into rollout. Student outcomes have largely plateaued, and many students still are not consistently experiencing strong foundational reading instruction across schools.
At this point in the school year, there is understandably limited opportunity to dramatically shift implementation before summer. The more important question now is what it will take for SFUSD to begin the 2026–27 school year much closer to full implementation across elementary schools.
Families should expect a clearer districtwide plan for how SFUSD will support principals, strengthen coaching and walkthrough systems, reinforce instructional expectations, and ensure more consistent literacy instruction across classrooms this fall.
That is also why the district’s recent hiring of a permanent Deputy Superintendent of Education Services is so important. One of the key responsibilities of this role should be building stronger instructional coherence and accountability across schools so that access to high-quality literacy instruction no longer varies significantly from classroom to classroom.
Item G.1 Major Decisions Update – New Special Education County Program for SY 26-27 and expanded in SY 27-28 (link here)
SFUSD is proposing a new special education program for students with significant behavioral and academic support needs. The program would be located at the Edwin & Anita Lee Building. Right now, many of these students attend specialized private schools outside of SFUSD because the district does not currently offer enough in-district programs to meet their needs. These placements are expensive for the district and often require long daily bus rides for students.
SFUSD estimates this new program could save the district about $3 million each year once fully operational. The district plans to open two classrooms in September 2026 serving 16 students in grades 5–12, with plans to expand the program the following school year to serve up to 32 students.
Our Take
Creating more opportunities for students to receive services closer to home is an important goal. The key now will be making sure the program is well staffed, well supported, and delivering strong services for students and families as it launches.
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.