A day after being appointed superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, Maria Su was trailed by the press as she visited an elementary school with Mayor London Breed.
But the toughest questions the two officials faced Wednesday didn’t come from the reporters.
“Why were the schools closing in the first place?” asked a fifth-grader at Yick Wo Elementary School, one of the campuses targeted for closure under a defunct proposal.
Su was appointed Tuesday to lead the district following last week’s resignation of Superintendent Matt Wayne. The interaction at Yick Wo turned into a mini press conference as the young students grilled the officials.
Breed explained that the district has financial problems, and school closures were an option but had been paused due to concerns from parents and a lack of data.
“We wanted to make sure that as grown-ups, we are doing everything we can to ensure your teachers are supported, you all are supported,” Breed told the kids. “So we wanted to stop by and say hi.”
Another kid dropped a bombshell, asking Su about her predecessor.
“How come you couldn’t fire Matt Wayne?” the child asked.
Su, a City Hall veteran, said Wayne “did a fantastic job” before explaining that it’s now her job to support the students, their teachers, and other school staff.
“Do you have a librarian here? Do you love your librarian?” Su asked, skillfully changing the topic, as the kids replied emphatically that they love their librarian. “I get to help your librarian and all those other great people that you have here in this school.”
The school board voted Friday to let Wayne go after the Oct. 8 release of a list of schools eligible for closure triggered widespread backlash. Although the closure process is paused, Su needs to present a budget proposal to the state by mid-December to close a deficit of hundreds of millions.
During her visit to Yick Wo, Su promised the kids that there is no longer a plan to close schools now but acknowledged that difficult decisions would need to be made in the near future.
“I need to make sure that I have the ability to answer tough questions,” Su said with a smile after meeting with the students. “I will not sugarcoat anything.”