The San Francisco Unified School District will announce school closures in a week, and there’s nothing to be done. The schools can’t be saved.
That’s according to the major candidates running for San Francisco mayor, save one.
They weighed in on the impending closures Thursday at a candidate forum at the Randall Museum that was hosted by a bevy of District 8 neighborhood groups and moderated by this reporter.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin was the lone candidate to say that, if elected, he would help the district reconsider the need for closing schools.
“I would exert leadership,” Peskin told the crowd, adding that he would “help them balance their budget, I would help them pay their teachers on time, and I would help them figure out if they need to close any schools.”
More than 4,000 students have left San Francisco’s school system since 2012, and 4,600 more departures are anticipated by 2032, according to SFUSD. That drop has blown a hole in the district’s budget, since the state funds schools on a per-pupil basis. While shuttering schools has been discussed as a cost-saving measure, by the district’s own admission, it may not save much money.
The list of proposed closures is set to be released Sept. 18. Families fear the worst. Parent Gaelan Spor previously told The Standard she was “terrified” because her daughter’s school is “clearly on the chopping block.”
The district has said it will also reorganize its central office and explore generating revenue from its properties in an effort to cover its budget gap.
The San Francisco government has no control over the school district, which is a state-run entity with an independent board. But mayors and the Board of Supervisors have played a role in advocating on behalf of parents. City government also has given the district funding in times of need.
At Thursday’s forum, other candidates sounded a more dire note on SFUSD’s financial spiral.
Former Mayor Mark Farrell told the audience, “this is a school board thing; we have no control over it. I’ve gone through the financials with a number of school board members, gone through the financials with parents. It’s going to have to happen.”
“School closures are just going to be a reality,” said nonprofit CEO and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie. “It’s unfortunate. Those families that have schools closed, they should have the first option of a neighborhood school.”
Supervisor Ahsha Safaí added, “I want them to do everything they can to reorganize and keep as many of them open, but unfortunately, as Mark said, the state is coming in and having very difficult conversations about receivership.”
Mayor London Breed did not attend the forum, but she touted the success of her appointments to the school board in a statement to The Standard.
“My appointees have stabilized the district and helped put SFUSD on a path to more sustainable financial footing. Tough decisions will need to be made,” Breed said.
In response to the district’s poor budget rating, the state has begun subjecting hiring for vacant positions to a review and approval process.
United Educators of San Francisco President Cassondra Curiel said she hopes the mayoral candidates make sure they’re “educated on the subject” of the financial crisis. The union has dually endorsed Peskin and Safaí.
“Aaron is spot on. The others aren’t wrong, but I think that there’s a great deal of misinformation that’s being bandied about,” Curiel said.
Meredith Willa Dodson, executive director of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, said the school district has avoided “making the hard decisions” to fix its budget.
Anyone running for mayor should ground their school stances “in our reality,” she said — “not just saying what they think needs to be said to appeal to constituents, but what is actually grounded in the reality of what we’re facing as a district and what we need from the broader city.”
The San Francisco Parent Coalition’s political action committee is not making endorsements in the mayor’s race, she said. The group is hosting a forum to hear candidates’ take on education Monday at George Washington High School on 32nd Avenue.