The San Francisco Unified School District has identified 13 schools as targets for potential closure and consolidation amid a serious fiscal crisis.
The list of schools facing cuts was released Tuesday, and it is not definitive but presents likely scenarios.
- El Dorado Elementary School: Merge with Visitacion Valley Elementary School.
- Visitacion Valley: Eligible for closure, but will instead become a “welcoming school” for El Dorado students.
- Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy: Merge with Sanchez Elementary; the campus will be repurposed as an early education center.
- Jean Parker Elementary School: Students to attend Gordon J. Lau (Cantonese biliteracy) or John Yehall Chin (general education).
- Malcolm X Elementary School: Merge with Carver Elementary; students move to the Carver campus.
- Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School: Students will attend Redding Elementary School (general education and special day class program) and Sherman Elementary School (general education).
- Redding Elementary School: Eligible for closure, but will instead become a “welcoming school” for Yick Wo students (general education and special day class program).
- SF Community School: Merge with Paul Revere TK-8 School
- San Francisco Public Montessori: Merge with Rosa Parks Elementary School
- Spring Valley Science Elementary School: Merge with John Muir Elementary School
- Sutro Elementary School: Students will attend Lafayette Elementary School or Alamo Elementary School (general education) and Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila Elementary School (Cantonese biliteracy). The campus will be repurposed as an early education center.
- June Jordan School for Social Justice: Merge with John O’Connell High School; students move to the O’Connell campus.
- The Academy – San Francisco @ McAteer: Merge with Raoul Wallenberg High School; students move to the Wallenberg campus.
According to the school district, a complex set of criteria was used to create the list. The main factors include equity, which considers access and impacts on historically disadvantaged communities; academic excellence; popularity; enrollment; and effectiveness of using resources, such as buildings and facilities.
Superintendent Matt Wayne will host a virtual town hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday to provide more details and answer questions.
A final recommendation will be submitted to the Board of Education on Nov. 12, and a final vote on the closure plan is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Four schools on the list are within Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s district. In a statement, Peskin, who is running for mayor, blasted the district’s proposal to close the schools.
“I intend to do everything I can to have the SFUSD to reconsider this unfair, ill-advised decision that will disproportionately adversely impact schools in the northeast and particularly the Asian American community,” Peskin said in a text.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro District where the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy is located, expressed concern about the closure impacting the school site named after LGBTQ civil rights icon. He demanded an explanation for the decision, including its rationale and implications for nearby school communities.
The closure process has sparked anxiety among parents whose kids may have to change schools.
During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, parents condemned the plan, saying the closures would disrupt diverse communities and learning environments.
Tiffany Furrell, a 42-year-old mom of two, said she likes that her kids study at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy because of its civil rights-focused curriculum and diverse staff and student body.
Furrell said she’s worried about the Castro school’s planned merger with Sanchez Elementary over allegations of bullying. She said she knows of children who have left Sanchez over these concerns and opted to go to Harvey Milk instead for the inclusive environment it offers.
“This is a heartbreaking situation where those children will have to go back to an environment where they were bullied,” Furrell said.
Sarah Sullivan, a parent at San Francisco Community School, called the decision to close the school “racist, classist, and completely blind” and said Superintendent Matt Wayne is not appreciative enough of the diverse community at the school.
“You are closing the most dynamic community learning spaces in the whole district,” Sullivan said. “The numbers are not telling the whole story.”
Gaelan Spor, another SF Community parent, called the school the “mothership” of progressive, alternative school programs in San Francisco and said she is unsatisfied with the district’s finding that the closures and mergers will actually save money.
“We would love to see the data,” Spor said.
Prior to public comment Tuesday night, Wayne said the school closures, which he called “resource alignment,” were necessary moves motivated by a budget crisis, declining enrollment, and the city’s desire to maintain local control over its schools.
“These are decisions we need to make to support students,” Wayne said.