Mayor Breed calls for SFUSD closures to stop, blasts superintendent

Mayor London Breed called on the San Francisco Unified School District to halt the closing of schools to address the district's budget deficit and blasted the superintendent's handling of the process.

Breed expressed her views about the closures in a letter Tuesday, one week after the district released a list of more than a dozen campuses slated for closure or merger with another school. The mayor said she has heard "confusion and concern" about the closures and how the process has been managed from parents, students, educators and staff.

"This cannot continue. Whatever this current proposed school closure process was meant to accomplish, or could have accomplished, is lost," the mayor said. "This has become a distraction from the very real work that must be done to balance the budget in the next two months to prevent a state takeover. It is time to immediately stop this school closure process."

Breed said she has also "lost confidence" in Superintendent Matt Wayne and his ability to manage the current process, but did not call for him to step down.

"I recognize that discussions around school closures and mergers are difficult and painful, but that only speaks to why any effort to engage in this conversation must be done with care, clarity, and competence. That has not happened here, and I don't have confidence that it can happen right now under the current conditions," the mayor said.

Wayne released a statement on Tuesday that was posted to the SFUSD website that attempted to address what he called an "undoubtedly difficult for our school communities." He said he planned to visit with "students, families, and staff of each of the 13 schools that meet the criteria for closure or merger, listening to their questions and concerns."

"With severe budget cuts imminent, continuing with the status quo in SFUSD is unacceptable and not sustainable," the statement read. "We must keep the best interests of all of those we represent at heart, particularly our students."  

Last week, Wayne announced 11 elementary schools and two high schools that would be impacted by potential changes, as the district seeks to close a massive budget deficit. Three campuses would close, another eight schools would merge with another school, while the remaining schools would be a welcoming school for a closed school.

Middle schools, which are currently at 90% capacity, would not be impacted by this round of proposed closures or mergers.

"Over the last few years, decisions have been made to minimize the impact on students by relying on our reserves, which are depleting quickly. This is not a sustainable approach to meet the needs of our students," Wayne said at the time. "Without a balanced budget and a plan to consolidate our resources, we risk a state takeover of our school district."

Last month, Breed announced the city would offer staff expertise in the form of a "School Stabilization Team" and $8.4 million in unallocated funds to help the district.

While Breed called for a halt to the current closure process, she said the weeks and months ahead would be "incredibly difficult" for SFUSD, as they seek to avoid a takeover from the State of California.

"There are painful but necessary decisions that will have to be made, and any school closures or mergers would only be one small piece of the overall effort to balance the budget," Breed said. "We must do everything we can to ensure that San Francisco public schools remain under local control so our School District can deliver the quality education that our students deserve."

The district has previously said it would offer final recommendations of closures and mergers to the Board of Education at a meeting on Nov. 12.

In:
• San Francisco Unified School District
• London Breed
• School Closures
• San Francisco