What you need to know about SFUSD's school closures plan
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San Francisco's public school district is moving forward with its school closure plans, but there are concerns about what they will look like and how public education in the city will be affected.
Why it matters: Public school closures have disproportionately affected communities of color.
- Meanwhile, students risk losing access to things like library services and after-school activities in their neighborhoods, Vanessa Marrero, the executive director of Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco, told Axios.
Context: The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) plans to close, merge or relocate a to-be-determined number of schools beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
- It's part of the district's Resource Alignment Initiative, a multi-year plan designed to address declining student enrollment and revenue, staffing issues and deteriorating facilities.
- As part of the process, the district will assess each school across several criteria covering equity, excellence and effective use of resources.
What they're saying: SFUSD still hasn't determined which schools will be affected, but some parents are trying to read between the lines to figure it out themselves, Giovanna Soto, a community manager with the San Francisco Parent Coalition told Axios.
- A fear among parents, Soto said, is that the district's decision won't reflect the feedback it has received from families over the past several months.
- That fear, she said, "definitely comes from a very understandable lack of trust in the district," citing past decisions where "community engagement has been lacking."
- Marrero added, "SFUSD administration needs to get their house in order before asking families to sacrifice their school sites."
Yes, but: Soto hopes SFUSD's emphasis on equity means the process won't "go the way we think it might go," which would be targeting schools only in the Mission, Bayview Hunters Point and Excelsior neighborhoods, she said. "We're keeping an open mind."
The other side: Superintendent Matt Wayne, in a June press release, said the "status quo isn't working" and that the school district cannot provide the quality education and resources needed for all of its students.
- SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick told Axios the district has "engaged in the most robust community engagement campaign in recent memory, and community feedback was crucial in developing our criteria for school closures, mergers or co-locations."
Between the lines: Frank Lara, executive vice president of the teacher's union United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), told Axios SFUSD needs to work to attract more families into public schools.
- But the district, Lara said, lacks attractive programming — specifically robust language programs — and is unable to manage the workload across all of its school sites.
- "We continue to be in this mess due to decisions by management," he said.
What's next: SFUSD will propose a new school portfolio this fall, and the school board will vote on those recommendations in December.