SFUSD Launches High School Task Force

I am pleased to share with you that we have launched the work of a task force that will provide community-informed recommendations to improve the portfolio of high schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
 
The High School Task Force will be charged with gathering input from the community on what it needs and wants from SFUSD high schools; understanding and summarizing the current portfolio of the district’s high schools in terms of offerings and student outcomes; and providing recommendations to me on ways to improve policies, practices, and programs for better student outcomes.
 
The Board of Education charged the Superintendent with convening the Task Force and developing recommendations within a year. The Task Force will also examine admissions policies for both selective admissions and comprehensive high schools, with a focus on how to best elevate the quality of education and improve outcomes for all students.

Since I am new in my role as Superintendent, I called on our community -- including parent groups, student groups, labor partners, civic leaders, business leaders, and higher education partners to recommend individuals to serve on the task force. They responded by recommending a tremendous group of individuals who were invited, and have graciously agreed, to serve on the High School Task Force.

The Task Force includes 26 people from across San Francisco:

• 6 students, including nominations from the Student Advisory Council and the San Francisco Youth Commission
• 9 educators, including nominations from United Educators of San Francisco and United Administrators of San Francisco
• 5 parents/caregivers to SFUSD students, including nominations from parent involvement and advocacy organizations (plus four other members who are SFUSD parents in addition to being selected as educators or community leaders)
• 6 other community leaders representing critical sectors of our civic life

 
Please see the roster for a complete list of High School Task Force members.

In inviting these individuals to serve as members of the Task Force, I am asking them to come to the work with an open mind and with their best ideas for creating the strongest possible portfolio of public high schools for our city. The Task Force will operate independently, supported by outside facilitators, and will have the support of SFUSD staff to bring in additional expertise and research.

For those interested in the work of the Task Force, there are a few ways to be involved:

1. In January, the Task Force and its facilitators will host community conversations across the city in January to gather input from community members; stay tuned for dates and times for those conversations.
2. All our high schools will undertake a process called “Looking at Student Journeys,” examining survey, focus group, and transcript data to surface patterns of student access and success. If you are connected to one of our high schools, be on the lookout for an invitation to complete the survey. 
3. Attend and observe Task Force meetings. These meetings, while open to the public, will be working sessions for the Task Force to learn, share and create. The first meeting of the Task Force will be on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the SFUSD Innovation Lab, Room 13, 727 Golden Gate Avenue.

For more information about the Task Force, please access the High School Task Force website or reach out to Tami Benau (benaut@sfusd.edu) or to Matthew Kelemen (matt@kelefors.com) of Kelefors Education Partners.

In Community,
SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne