You may have heard about the school closures and fiscal crisis in the San Francisco Unified School District, but an important election that could shape the district’s future has gone largely under the radar this year.
It’s the school board race.
Four seats are up for grabs at the Board of Education, the seven-member governing body overseeing the policies of the K-12 public school district. The top four winners will join the board next January to work with the superintendent to navigate chaos at the district, including closing a nine-figure budget deficit, laying off staff, and restarting the process of closing and consolidating schools after it was put on pause.
As of Nov. 18, Deputy City Attorney Jaime Huling, affordable housing director Parag Gupta, attorney and parent organizer Supryia Ray, and education foundation founder John Jersin, and current board president Matt Alexander were projected to win the election.
Timeline of chaos
Those elected will inherit massive challenges that came to a head over the summer when state officials issued a serious warning to the district. Due to its worsening budget crisis, the California Department of Education downgraded the district’s financial situation to “negative” as the deficit mounted to $400 million, prompting state intervention in the district’s financial decisions, including reviewing its hiring.
The initial rollout of a school closure announcement sent parents into panic mode, with families at smaller schools concerned they would be on the chopping block.
In August, then-Board of Education President Lainie Motamedi suddenly resigned, citing personal health reasons. Mayor London Breed subsequently appointed educator Phil Kim to the seat.
The turmoil continued in September when then-Superintendent Matt Wayne decided to delay the announcement of the school closure list. Breed then sent in a stabilization team, led by City Hall veteran Maria Su, in an effort to rescue the district from collapse.
On Oct. 8, the district released the closure list targeting 13 schools, prompting widespread criticism of Wayne for a lack of transparency and input in the process. The backlash grew as City Hall leaders, parents, and the school board lost trust in him. A week after the list announcement, Wayne was forced to resign and the school board appointed Su as the new superintendent.
Who are the candidates?
Of the 11 candidates running, only two have some level of name recognition — Matt Alexander, the current president of the board and the only incumbent running for reelection, and Ann Hsu, a former school board member appointed after the recall of three members in 2022 but who later lost reelection.
“I’m proud that during my time on the board, I’ve been able to build bridges across political lines to get things done for our kids,” Alexander said in a statement.
The other nine candidates are business executive Min Chang, nonprofit educator Virginia Cheung, engineer and educator Lefteris Eleftheriou, affordable housing director Parag Gupta, Deputy City Attorney Jaime Huling, education foundation founder John Jersin, college student Maddy Krantz, small business owner Laurance Lem Lee, and attorney and parent organizer Supryia Ray.
The large pool of candidates split the city’s political camps and endorsements, with Alexander and Cheung securing progressive support as moderates rallied behind Ray. Chinese American candidates Lee, Hsu, and Chang are also running more on the moderate side.
Earlier this year, a political fight erupted after Gupta, Huling, and Jersin formed an alliance with Alexander to win the endorsement of the progressive teacher’s union. The SF Guardians group, which led the school board recall, rescinded its endorsement of Jersin and Gupta after their alliance with Alexander, whom they accused of presiding over a series of poor decisions that inflamed the crisis at the district.
Meredith Dodson, director of SF Parent Action, said the current school board has lost parents’ trust and no incumbents should be considered.
“We really need to see a full reset to the Board of Education with this election,” she said. “Parents are hoping that with new, strong leaders, we’ll see the board get back to the basics.”