Focus Area 1 - Create a New School Staffing Model
Resource Alignment Initiative goal: Establish a school staffing model so that each school is staffed based on each school’s enrollment and student characteristics
In 2022, SFUSD adopted ambitious five-year goals for student outcomes. The District also adopted guardrails, such as serving the whole child, that represent our values and guide our strategies for meeting our goals. As part of the Resource Alignment Initiative, the District is aligning resources to support our efforts to meet these goals. Specifically, the District has developed a plan for staffing and budgets based on each school’s enrollment and student characteristics.
The School Staffing Model is a detailed set of guidelines that SFUSD will use to determine how staff are allocated to schools each year. These allocations serve as a starting point for school leaders as they develop their school plans.
The staffing model for FY 24-25 is complete and has been implemented.
Key challenges the school staffing model addresses:
- Schools cannot consistently implement critical pieces of the instructional vision because each school determines staffing.
- Outcomes across schools for students are very inconsistent.
The updated School Staffing Model implemented as part of the Resource Alignment Initiative will save $40 million, enabling SFUSD to align available funding with our student population and investments in schools and programs.
Please find details about how SFUSD has changed how funding and staff are allocated to schools below. Here is a summary of the significant shifts:
| From | To | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
Weighted Student Formula (WSF): an allocation formula that distributes money to schools based on individual student attributes | Foundational staffing allocations for every school in SFUSD and focal population funds based on student enrollment. | The WSF approach has created uncertainty for schools regarding what they can expect year-to-year to have available for staff and materials, supplies, and activities. |
Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS): Staff allocations are based on a school's “tier” as determined by analyzing input data on student and staff characteristics. Schools may select among different staff types but may not use the funding if a position is vacant. | Per pupil funding allocations based on focal populations for schools to determine how to address student needs.
| SFUSD leaders worked with Stanford to analyze its Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model, which informs school resource allocations. The study found that while MTSS successfully targeted resources to schools and students that needed them, these additional supports did not consistently translate into gains across several key metrics (student academic outcomes like SBAC scores, behavioral outcomes and attendance data, and indicators of teacher turnover). |
Program allocations: allocations of staff based on particular program offerings at individual schools, determined by Central Office departments | Consistent allocations based on our program commitments and student enrollment. | SFUSD is committed to its sports, library, arts, and music (SLAM) programs, language programs, and other special programs for students. This commitment needs to be documented with clearly identified levels of programming in place at each school and funding support. |
Materials, supplies, and other discretionary expenses are included in the WSF budget. | A site fund specifically for materials, supplies, and other discretionary expenditures. | With the WSF approach, set funding has yet to be allocated specifically for materials and supplies and other discretionary expenses. This means each school community has to decide how much of their budget will support staffing and how much will support non-FTE and other site needs. |
While most school allocations are determined through these guidelines, schools may receive additional site-specific staffing at the discretion of the District leadership. These additional positions are allocated to schools with unique needs or program designs that are not reflected elsewhere.
For more information on the School Staffing Model, please see the Budget & Resource Guide and School Staffing Model slides presented to the District Advisory Committee in December 2023.
This page was last updated on June 26, 2024