School board officially appoints Maria Su as superintendent to lead SFUSD
The San Francisco Board of Education on Tuesday officially appointed Maria Su as superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, less than a week after the previous superintendent resigned.
Su, who has served as executive director of the city's Department of Children, Youth and their Families for the past 15 years, was appointed on a 6-1 vote. The board also appointed Karling Aguilera-Fort as the district's deputy superintendent.
"I am honored to serve as the superintendent of San Francisco's public school system," the new superintendent said. "My immediate priorities are to balance SFUSD's budget to maintain local control, rebuild trust with our community, and tackle operational hurdles that will allow our schools to provide the best possible learning environments for the 49,000 students in our care."
Su replaces Matt Wayne, who resigned on Friday.
Wayne was under fire after releasing a plan to close or merge 13 schools to address the district's massive budget deficit and to avoid a takeover by the California Department of Education. The plan was vociferously opposed by the impacted schools and by Mayor London Breed, who said she had "lost confidence" in Wayne.
Following Wayne's resignation, the district said that no schools would close in the 2025-26 school year.
Su, a former SFUSD parent, was appointed by Breed last month as part of a "School Stabilization Team" of city officials offering expertise to help the district, which is facing a multimillion-dollar budget deficit and declining enrollment.
"Her deep expertise leading teams and running a large government agency is exactly what we need to stabilize our school district," said board president Matt Alexander. "I'm excited that she will work closely with veteran educator Dr. Karling Aguilera-Fort as we take on SFUSD's fiscal and operational challenges and create the schools our students deserve."
According to the district, Su will remain a city employee during her tenure as superintendent. The board also approved a resolution waiving the credential requirement of the district's chief administrative officer.
