SFUSD Staffing Update

Originally posted on Feb. 21, 2025:

Dear SFUSD Families,

I want to express my gratitude to you for your continued support and partnership as we navigate these challenging times together, both locally and nationally. As a school district, we are responsible for educating and caring for over 50,000 students every day. This is made possible by a dedicated workforce of nearly 9,000 employees who work tirelessly in service of our school communities.

As you may know, our school district is currently facing a significant financial deficit, with expenses growing faster than our revenues. In order to balance our budget and ensure fiscal responsibility, we must reduce our budget by $113 million for the 2025-26 school year. We must make significant changes in order to balance our budget. 

Despite these challenges, our commitment to the success of every student remains unwavering. We are steadfast in maintaining our core values, which include ensuring that decisions are made with students' needs at the center and prioritizing the resources that directly support them. We are also committed to being responsible stewards of our resources, continuing our efforts to improve student outcomes while working within the constraints of our budget.

We are working closely with our fiscal advisors to ensure that we maximize available resources while developing a budget that reflects our values. While we have made some necessary cuts, we are also exploring ways to leverage restricted funding to supplement staffing and ensure that critical positions like counselors, social workers, and teachers in specialized areas are supported.

School districts in California are required by state law to issue preliminary layoff notices by March 15 to employees who may be impacted by reductions. These preliminary notices are not final. Next Tuesday, the district will be asking the Board of Education for authorization to  issue these preliminary notices to over 500 educators in the district. I want to be clear that the Board is not taking action to lay off individual employees at next Tuesday’s board meeting. Those decisions will happen through a thoughtful process and will take multiple factors into account.

I recognize the uncertainty of our budget situation can raise many questions. We are working diligently to map out our resources and will keep you updated on our progress. We will continue to prioritize stability in our schools, ensuring that we have qualified staff in every classroom and are meeting our legal and educational obligations.

As we meet these challenges head-on, I believe that we can stabilize our school district and ensure every student in SFUSD has the opportunity to succeed.

Sincerely,

Dr. Maria Su

SFUSD Superintendent