For several years the enrollment in SFUSD has been declining. The decline continues and is getting worse. Now they need to close 6-7 schools. If they wait a little longer it will be more. But the School Board afraid that some parents will not be happy, are refusing to announce which schools.
““The process of closing and merging schools is complicated, and I want to make sure we’ve looked at it from every angle, including how after-school care, grant funding, and transportation will be affected,” Wayne said in a statement.
Wayne said the timeline “remains relatively consistent,” and that the Board of Education will vote on the list of school closure recommendations this December, with changes taking effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Nonprofits and advocates working with the school district have called on SFUSD to delay the school-closure process altogether, but state-appointed fiscal advisors have cautioned that closures are necessary.
Actually, the SFUSD can not write a single check without permission of the State. This district is so broke, the State of California runs its finances. Maybe every child should be given a voucher and given the choice of school to attend. Like LAUSD, this is a failed district—the kids deserve better.
SFUSD delays school-closure list release to October
By Allyson Aleksey, SF Examiner, 9/16/24 https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/education/sfusd-closures-not-revealed-until-october-with-list-delay/article_fb50451e-7468-11ef-b0d4-5776b1a6aab2.html
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San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Matt Wayne said The City’s public-school officials need more time to present the Board of Education with a list of schools slated to close next year, backtracking on the district’s initial plan to release the list Wednesday.
Wayne said Sunday that the list will be released in October instead, and that the revised timeline “is to ensure a thorough review of all aspects” of the plan to close and merge schools.
“The process of closing and merging schools is complicated, and I want to make sure we’ve looked at it from every angle, including how after-school care, grant funding, and transportation will be affected,” Wayne said in a statement.
Wayne said the timeline “remains relatively consistent,” and that the Board of Education will vote on the list of school closure recommendations this December, with changes taking effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Nonprofits and advocates working with the school district have called on SFUSD to delay the school-closure process altogether, but state-appointed fiscal advisors have cautioned that closures are necessary.
Virginia Marshall, education chair for the San Francisco NAACP, asked the district on behalf of the organization that it delay school-closure announcements until January.
Coleman Advocates, a nonprofit student advocacy group, called on the district to pause the process and engage with school communities that will be most impacted before a list is released.
In a statement sent to The Examiner, the group’s leaders said the announcement created “even more stress” for students and families, and “further illustrated how unprepared” the district is in this process.
Coleman Advocates also stated that, so far, SFUSD has not shared information on how the process would impact transportation and bus schedules, and has not “shown any support for protecting intentional small schools or Black and Brown schools.”
The group also noted that SFUSD has not provided it with a requested fiscal impact report, or indicate how closing schools would address the district’s financial issues over the long term.
“Our members have been vocal and consistent about pressuring SFUSD to reconsider the school closure process through public comment at BOE meetings, gathering surveys, and engaging students and families at school sites,” the group said. “We have been demanding a transparent and robust plan before considering closing any schools. SFUSD’s survey did not gather the voices of our Black and Brown community.”
