Mayor London Breed Announces San Francisco School Board Appointees After Recall

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Mayor London Breed on Friday announced her three new appointments to the San Francisco Board of Education in the wake of last month's recall election.

Residents in San Francisco voted overwhelmingly to recall Alison Collins, Faauuga Moliga and Gabriella Lopez in the special election that was held on Feb. 15.

Lopez was president of the board at the time of the recall, while both Collins and Moliga had served as vice president. Moliga had been appointed by Breed

The three women Breed announced to replace the recalled board members were Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi, and Lisa Weissman-Ward, all of whom are currently the parents of students in San Francisco public schools.

"I'm so happy and I'm so proud that we have three amazing women who all have kids in our public school system," Breed said. "Who all want better for our children and who also care about supporting our educators."

The announcement was made at a press event held on the football field at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology.

Breed went on to say that all three new appointees were willing to "ignore the politics" in order to focus on making the sometimes difficult decisions that are in the best interest of both students and teachers.

The special election was the city's first recall election since 1983. Only about 25% of eligible voters cast their ballots in early voting, a somewhat low turnout for an election that could drastically change the city's school board.

The successful San Francisco school board recall garnered national attention, with some saying the result was a message against liberal "woke-ism."

"I feel really good because, again, it's not just about their children; it's about equity, it's about the achievement gap, it's about the kids who are being left behind, it's about changes to the school system," Breed said. "It's about making sure that regardless of parent advocates or any advocates, that those kids who have no voice or parents who may not be able to speak English have a voice in this school system."

"And so, now with a good, solid school board, I think that we are going to be headed in the right direction," the mayor added.

After introducing all three new board members, Breed proceeded to swear them in. For the mayor, it was another opportunity to shape San Francisco's Board of Education. The three new members from different professional backgrounds.

Hsu was born in China and is a former tech entrepreneur. She currently lives in the city's Richmond District and is the president of Galileo's Parent Teacher Student Association, as well as chairperson of the San Francisco Unified School District's Independent Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee.

"It is with this experience, as a parent, that I feel the weight and responsibility of being a school board member," said Hsu.

Motamedi, an Inner Sunset resident, currently works as volunteer lead for the National Park Service in the Golden Gate Park National Recreation Area. Most recently she served as co-chair of the SFUSD Public Education Enrichment Fund Committee.

"I'm here because I want SFUSD to be what it should be: a world-class public education system that all families in San Francisco consider as a great option for their children," said Motamedi.

Weissman-Ward, a Mission District resident, works as the associate director of the Stanford Law School Immigrants' Rights Clinic and is a member of the National Lawyers Guild as well as the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

"Parents are frustrated, and rightly concerned about their children," said Weissman-Ward. "Educators are frustrated too. But despite these challenges, we are here with a sense of hope, and a commitment to working collaboratively to turn things around."

Two of the new members, Hsu and Motamedi, submitted applications after the election. Hsu was among the leaders of the recall campaign.

"They are all women of color. They all seem very qualified and have been very involved in reform efforts," said Cyn Wang of the SF Parent Coalition. "To me, Mayor Breed did her due diligence. She listened to the community, and she made a very wise and well-informed choice."

San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews was also present and spoke after the board members were sworn in.

"I welcome our three new commissioners," Matthews said. "I look forward to working with all of our commissioners to address the challenges and opportunities before us in collaboration with our district staff, families, students and community members. While there are many, many urgent and important matters to realize our mission, at this moment in time, our students and families are counting on district leaders to stay focused on these priorities."

Matthew went on to list areas that need to be prioritized, including safe learning environments, "high quality" learning experiences, a "fiscally responsible" budget, and picking his successor.

Within days of the recall election, San Francisco Unified School District officials announced that they would extend the search for a new superintendent through the summer to replace the outgoing Dr. Matthews.

Wilson Walker contributed to this report.