SFUSD Glossary

San Francisco is both a city and a county and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) administers both the school district and the San Francisco County Office of Education (COE). In California, for the most part, districts run the show.

All  public schools–except charter schools–are administered by SFUSD.  SFUSD is governed by the San Francisco Board of Education (BoE), and run by the Superintendent of the District.   

The SF County Office of Education supports students with a high risk of dropping out.  County offices play a big role in public education in California.

SFUSD has the power to approve or disapprove applications for charter schools, and reviews applications for renewal. Most charter schools are run by separate organizations with their own self-appointed boards, not by SFUSD, and have different rules.

SFUSD is governed by its Board of Education, our local school board. The San Francisco Board of Education is composed of 7 members called “commissioners,” who are elected at-large by all voters in the county for staggered 4-year terms, with elections held every 2 years. Board commissioners are paid a nominal stipend of about $500/month, and have access to some city/county benefits, but do not have administrative staff to assist with their board duties.

The role of the Board of Education is to hire and monitor a Superintendent for SFUSD, to approve the budget, and to set direction for the Superintendent and the staff. According to SFUSD policy, they may also be required to explicitly approve certain items or actions. The staff will typically make recommendations on these approvals, but the Board may exercise its discretion. Learn more about the role of school boards in California, here.

The district superintendent is hired and monitored by the Board of Education. It is expected that the superintendent is a paid-full time professional administrator whose job is to run SFUSD, and to hire a professional staff to assist them.

The superintendent, district staff, and principals generally have term employment contracts with SFUSD. Under current policy, these are subject to approval by the Board, who may exercise discretion to renew or not renew any individual employment contract.

The City and County of San Francisco is run by a mayor (elected at-large across the city) and 11 members of the Board of Supervisors (one elected in each City supervisorial district); this body is the equivalent of what is commonly referred to as “City Council” in other cities.

SFUSD is entirely governed by the Board of Education, not the San Francisco city government. The city government may specify how the members of the Board of Education are selected, but they otherwise have no supervision or accountability to each other. Note: It is not uncommon for city supervisors to serve as Board of Education commissioners before running for an elected role in the city. 

San Francisco also has departments that provide services to school-aged children, including, notably, the Department of Children Youth & their Families (DCYF), the Recreation & Parks Department, and the Public Library (SFPL). These departments typically run summer camps and offer programs and activities for children. During the pandemic they also  provided and coordinated child-care and Community Learning Hubs.

The United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) is the union representing the District’s teachers. It is a chapter of the California Teachers’ Association (CTA), which is the largest teachers’ union in California. Like any union, they advocate and bargain on compensation and work conditions for their members. Their positions on work conditions and requirements have significant influence over SFUSD’s educational and operational practices.

There are several other unions representing SFUSD employees, including the United Administrators of San Francisco (representing principals and other administrators).  Due to its size as the largest SFUSD union, the UESF bargaining team often takes the lead and sets the basis for the working conditions for the other unions when those need to be coordinated. An agreement between SFUSD and a union “bargaining unit” (i.e., a unionized group of employees) is called a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Learn more here about teachers unions.

Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and Parent Teach Organizations (PTOs) support parent and teacher activities at the schools. They are open to all parents, teachers, administrators and community members and they focus on the students’ educational needs, activities, and goals.

There are several differences between a PTA and a PTO.  PTAs are part of a state and national organization with a goal of securing laws for the care and protection of children at the national, state, and local level.  PTOs are independent and just work within their school.  All  PTAs are 501 (c)(3) not-for-profits as part of the state organization and donations are tax deductible.  PTAs receive training on how to run a not for profit and support parent engagement. PTAs are covered by mandatory insurance to protect officers and the organization.  All schools are invited to become PTAs. While most schools in San Francisco, including those serving low income communities are PTAs, there are some PTOs.

The 2nd District PTA is a branch of the  California State PTA, which is in turn part of the National PTA. The 2nd District PTA provides services, support, and guidance to individual school site PTAs. Volunteering at schools is a key support to many schools around San Francisco, however, just like PTA funding, the distribution of volunteers and volunteer hours across SF schools is unequal. In November 2022, San Francisco voters approved a local ballot measure to bring more dedicated funding to schools, especially those without PTAs, through a Student Success Fund.

The Board of Education appoints several councils and committees to advise them. Members of committees are decided by the Board of Education, with the exception of the School Site Councils and Student Advisory Council. The Board of Education uses its own discretion as to whether and how much to consider advice or recommendations that the councils and committees produce. 

The Board of Education also appoints its own members into various standing and ad hoc subcommittees which meet separately to discuss specific matters and advise the Board as a whole. 

The Student Advisory Council is selected by students at each SFUSD high school.

School Site Councils (SSCs) are nominated and elected by the community at each school. They consist of administration, parent, teacher, and community representatives. The job of the School Site Council is to determine how each school is spending its funds, and to provide accountability for how and how effectively those funds are being spent. They approve a School Plan for Student Achievement each year. Learn more about SSCs through our 3-part series:

• • Who Decides My School’s Budget?
  • What Do They Decide?
  • What Is The Budget?
  • And, check out Ed100’s overview on SSCs or ask us about how to find YOUR School Plan for Student Achievement