Statement Opposing School Closure & Merger Plan
I oppose the “Resource Alignment Initiative” plan and urge the Board of Education to reject it.
School closures should be a last resort, not something proposed two months before adoption over the objection of families and educators, blindsiding entire school communities. While SFUSD’s plan for closing and merging schools has been framed as an overdue “realignment” of its portfolio, I am troubled by the breadth of the changes and the lack of stakeholder involvement and support. The impacts go well beyond 13 schools identified by the district’s scoring process to 30 schools named in their October 8 announcement. Add to that the staffing challenges, transportation, and other barriers for working class families, and we are looking at dramatic, long term changes that affect communities across the city. The projected budget savings from this plan are limited and in no way justify the sweeping impacts and risks to our students, families, and school communities.
Since SFUSD published its list of recommended school closures and mergers a week ago, I’ve tried to keep an open mind and taken time to connect with a broad range of stakeholders, including students, parents, principals, educators, school staff, labor unions, and Superintendent Wayne. From these conversations, it’s become clear to me that the recommendations are not ready for prime time, and that SFUSD leadership needs to bring families, educators, school staff, and district representatives together to discuss alternative solutions to budget and resource challenges that will benefit and not further destabilize our schools.
I urge Superintendent Wayne and the School Board to stop this process, and convene stakeholders toward a better approach that lifts up our school communities and brings people together.
The rollout of this plan has been deeply flawed, and has created extreme stress for students, families, educators, and school staff. Among other concerns, I have been disappointed by the lack of information or planning with regard to how these closures would actually occur, and the impact on both the closing schools and the welcoming schools. Even the most basic questions – like will a school merging into another school bring its teachers, will specialized programs (like Public Montessori or Chinese bi-literacy) remain intact at their new location, and what’s the plan for the closed sites – remain unanswered, with no plan to even begin answering these questions before finalizing school closures and mergers. The fact that the list of recommended mergers and closures will be proposed for adoption by the school board in just two months, while there are so many unanswered questions, is highly problematic.
SFUSD should not be surprised by the strong reaction against the closure plan over the last week. Superintendent Wayne seems to be rushing through approval of the mergers and closures, and putting off dealing with all other details until later. This is no way to build trust and have buy-in for any plan. It is no wonder that families, teachers and others are upset. I share their frustration.
As a public school parent and Supervisor representing so many families, I know our public school communities have been experiencing a great deal of uncertainty and angst around the announcement of school closures and mergers. This is on top of the existing stress as families navigate staff vacancies, racism, bullying, student mental health challenges, housing insecurity, and economic challenges. Meanwhile, all of this is occurring amidst existential challenges like climate change, atrocities in Gaza, and a white supremacist on the presidential ballot. Now more than ever, a half baked school closure plan is the last thing families need.
I want to thank the many families, educators, principals, school staff, and school board members who have shared their views with our office. I also want to thank Superintendent Matt Wayne for his open dialogue with our office. I urge him to pivot quickly to a more productive approach rather than moving forward with the current plan. I will help in any way I can.
