Message from Superintendent Wayne: Revised Timeline for School Closures Announcement
Sept. 15, 2024
Dear SFUSD Community:
As you likely know, the San Francisco Unified School District is engaged in a process of planning for school closures and mergers for the 2025-26 school year. After extensive conversations with Board Leadership and staff, including those who have been working on the Resource Alignment Initiative for the last nine months, I have decided to delay the release of the recommendation from Sept. 18, as originally planned, until October. This delay is to ensure a thorough review of all aspects of the plan.
I know there’s a lot of anticipation and emotions around our recommendation and how SFUSD will support the affected communities, but it is essential that we carefully review everything before making the announcement. This includes ensuring that: 1) our fiscal analysis is strong and our transition plan and support systems are in place; 2) data from the equity audit is integrated into the recommendation; and 3) we meaningfully consult with city, school, and community leaders.
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. All of our schools are unique and have many connections throughout the community. When I share my recommendation to close or merge some of our schools, I want to be absolutely certain I have done everything I can to help students and families through this challenging time.
Simply put, we want to make sure we get this right.
Our process to develop a recommendation remains data-driven, equity-centered, and informed by extensive community input. We have been and will continue to be transparent about this process when my recommendation is shared. The rest of the timeline remains relatively consistent; the Board of Education will vote on the package of school closures in December, with changes taking effect in fall 2025.
The goal of closing schools is not to save money but to improve the experience for students and teachers. By aligning the number of schools we operate with our current enrollment, SFUSD can manage resources more effectively and ensure every school is fully enrolled and well-supported. While having fewer schools may reduce our operating costs, the primary focus is on creating better learning environments for all students, not budget cuts.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership and support of San Francisco’s public schools. Your input and feedback are invaluable as we navigate these changes. I am grateful to lead a district that encourages continuous learning – including for leaders like myself – and where we all can come together to take care of each other as we embrace changes and new beginnings.
In community,
Dr. Wayne
Learn More About School Closures, Mergers, and Co-Locations
Focus Area 5 of the Resource Alignment Initiative will establish a new portfolio of schools. This includes necessary but challenging steps such as school closures, mergers, and co-locations, all aimed at creating strong and supportive learning environments for every student, every day.
Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about school closures, mergers, and co-locations
How will the new portfolio of schools be right for our current reality and our reality over the next decade?
Right now, SFUSD has 14,000 more seats than the number of students we serve.
We aim to minimize that gap while leaving enough room for additional students if the projections for continued enrollment decline don’t happen.
How is SFUSD centering equity in its portfolio design process?
SFUSD designed an equitable process that would lead to equitable outcomes.
This includes robust community engagement, regular proactive and transparent communication, adhering to guidance from the state, including two equity checks, and committing to avoid concentrating closures and mergers in one or two communities. Learn more about the community feedback process.
If mergers and closures won’t save SFUSD money, why are we doing it?
Closing schools will save some money. SFUSD needs to cut over $130 million to balance its budget. Each school closed is expected to save SFUSD about $1 million yearly.
But the goal of school mergers and closures is to use our resources more effectively in order to create stronger and more supportive learning environments for students and teachers.
How much money will the district save from the amount of schools that are closing?
We will know how much money we can save from school closures when the district shares its plans with the public on Sept. 18.
How will SFUSD close its structural deficit?
SFUSD is implementing an aggressive budget stabilization plan to balance its budget.
We have reduced the number of Central Office staff, we are eliminating vacant positions, we are staffing to the teachers’ union contract, and we are reducing costs for materials and supplies, contractors, and conferences, among other actions.
Are there changes to the enrollment process this year?
Yes. SFUSD simplified the enrollment process for families enrolling students for the 2025-26 school year. Changes include:
Eliminating the multiple application rounds and only have one main round application deadline, after which applicants get automatically placed onto waitlists for their top choice schools without re-applying.
Allowing applicants to wait on several schools’ waitlists rather than having to pick just one waitlist choice.
What happens if I enroll my child in a school which is then slated for closure?
If you enroll your child in a school that is then selected for closure, you will have an opportunity to reenroll your child in a new school.
If my child currently attends a school that will close, which school will they attend?
Students who attend a school that is slated for closure will be assigned to a nearby welcoming school. If that assignment is satisfactory, no action is required.
If you would like your child to attend a different school, you will enter the lottery with the advantage of a special tiebreaker, which, if approved by the Board of Education on August 27, will increase your student’s chances of being assigned to the school of your choice.
I thought SFUSD was implementing a new elementary student assignment policy.
We have made the strategic decision to base elementary zones on the new portfolio, where changes will be made in the number of schools and language pathways.
For us to be able to create zones, the school portfolio must be complete; our ability to guarantee students a placement in a zone depends on the schools that will be in that zone.
The development of a new elementary school student assignment system will begin once a new portfolio of schools is finalized in December 2024.
For School Year 2025-26:
We will use the current assignment system with modified attendance areas for elementary schools and continue to develop the elementary school student assignment system.
For School Year 2026-27:
We will switch to the new assignment system for elementary schools, though this will only apply to grades K-5. We do not plan to change TK, MS, or HS assignments.
What is the Resource Alignment Initiative?
The District’s resources are simply stretched too thin, and this is impacting the ability to achieve SFUSD’s ambitious five-year student outcome goals.
The Resource Alignment Initiative is our roadmap for the critical work we must do as a school district to move us toward a future where every student attends a strong school, our educators have the resources and support to excel, and our community grows stronger.
The initiative has five focus areas to address our challenges in multiple ways. None of them alone will help us achieve our goals. Learn more about each focus area below. Under the direction of Superintendent Wayne, the Resource Alignment Initiative is underway and will continue through school year 2025-26.
Watch this short video to learn more about the Resource Alignment Initiative.
Learn more about the five focus areas
Go to Focus Area 5
Guiding Principles
Guiding Principles
Superintendent Wayne has laid out four guiding principles for the RAI recommendations that will be developed this year.:
- Money will follow students. Schools should have predictable services that all students receive based on student enrollment.
- SFUSD will plan to operate at scale based on student enrollment. Schools and classrooms will operate at full capacity to provide the best instruction and learning experience.
- SFUSD will allocate resources to programs aligned with positive student outcomes. Improving student outcomes requires strategic abandonment.
- SFUSD will approach the development of any proposed school portfolio changes with an equity lens to explicitly evaluate disproportionate racial equity impacts. This approach will be consistent with state statutes, best practices, and with an understanding of San Francisco’s history of racial segregation.
(See here for Dr. Wayne’s August 2023 letter to the community, District staff’s RAI presentation, and a video recording of the discussion)
This page was last updated on September 15, 2024