SF Board of Education Adopts Budget for 2025-26 School Year

Posted Date

Press Release

San Francisco (June 24, 2025) - The San Francisco Board of Education has adopted a balanced budget for the upcoming school year, delivering on a key milestone that will support student learning while making progress towards its goal of exiting state oversight. 

On Tuesday, June 24, the Board of Education adopted its 2024-27 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and $1.2 billion total operating budget for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) for the 2025-26 school year. County offices of education, school districts and charter schools are required to adopt a three-year LCAP and update this plan annually. In addition, SFUSD must send its approved budget to the state by July 1. 

The balanced budget is the result of months of work by district staff and deep community engagement. This past spring, SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Maria Su held eight town halls and engaged with 12 parent advisory groups, both virtually and in person across the city, to gain perspective and feedback about what families valued.

“Every student in this city deserves a high quality education, and that is at the center of my decisions when developing this budget,” SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Maria Su said. “I’m confident in the direction we are heading as a school district and am deeply grateful for the community’s support as we build a stronger future for public education in San Francisco.”

The budget delivers on three key values:

  • Student-Focused Learning: This budget continues the district’s work to target and track key indicators for improving student learning like 3rd grade literacy and 8th grade math, prioritizes college and career readiness, delivers critical special education support, and focuses on early intervention to prevent students from falling behind.
  • Strong and Supported Schools: The budget prioritizes well-rounded schools by funding efforts including placing a teacher in every classroom, having librarians and the arts in every school, expanding language immersion programs, and transforming student dining. 
  • Systemwide Stability and Effective Governance: The budget prioritizes key improvements like modernizing systems through Frontline and Red Rover implementation, improving SFUSD facilities by advancing the Real Estate Portfolio Master Plan and delivering on bond programs, and meeting benchmarks to exit state oversight. 

This balanced budget is a significant step toward closing the district’s long-term structural deficit and a key component of its multi-year fiscal stabilization plan. The proposed balanced budget includes a reduction of at least $113.8 million in spending for the 2025-26 year. The Board also approved a Fiscal Stabilization Plan that includes an additional $59 million in reductions for the 2026-2027 school year to end deficit spending. SFUSD, the Board of Education, and the California Department of Education continue to closely collaborate on budget balancing solutions in order for SFUSD to maintain local control of its budget.

“This balanced budget reflects thoughtful, though difficult, decisions made in the best interest of San Francisco’s public school students and the long-term stability of SFUSD,” said SF Board of Education President Phil Kim. “We are investing strategically in what matters most—better outcomes for all learners. The Board is grateful to students, educators, and families whose input helped shape this process.”

The majority of SFUSD’s total operating budget consists of the Unrestricted General Fund, most of which funds school-based supports. School site budgets comprise the largest portion of expenditures in the Unrestricted General Fund, including employee salary and benefit costs. SFUSD expects to receive $648 million from the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), California’s primary source of state education dollars. The next largest component of the budget, the Restricted General Fund, amounts to approximately 40% of the overall budget. The Restricted General Fund includes local voter-approved funding such as the Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEEF) and parcel tax revenues. 

The PEEF Expenditure Plan included in the proposed budget amounts to $94 million. The spending plan for these voter-approved funds support many programs in the City’s public schools, including sports, libraries, arts, and music programs. 

Local Control Funding Formula and LCAP

California’s LCFF, enacted in 2013-14, replaced the previous kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) revenue limit funding methodology, and gave school districts serving high-needs students more funds in the form of supplemental and concentration grants, based on the number and percentages of high-needs students they serve. School districts are also required to adopt Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), which are plans to show how districts will spend the supplemental funds to support their high-needs students. Each year, parents, students, labor partners, and community members are given the opportunity to provide feedback and help shape SFUSD’s LCAP. 

Budget Stabilization Background 

In 2021, the CDE appointed two state fiscal experts to support the district in fiscal stabilization. In May 2024, SFUSD received notice from the CDE that it revised the certification of SFUSD’s budget report from “Qualified” to “Negative.” With this updated certification, the fiscal experts moved to fiscal advisor status and can directly engage in any district operation deemed counter to fiscal stability. SFUSD must continue to demonstrate diligence in addressing fiscal challenges to avoid further state oversight and return to a “Qualified” or “Positive” certification.

Learn more about the SFUSD Budget and LCAP.

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