Announcement Details
Announcement Message
Dear SFUSD Community,
Tonight the Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. to consider an important step in the strike planning process.
At this meeting, the Board will consider a resolution to grant emergency authority to the Superintendent in the event of a strike. This action is focused on preparedness and is intended to ensure the district can respond quickly to protect students and maintain safe, orderly school operations if needed.
I sincerely hope I never need to use the policies in this resolution – but we have to plan to be ready if a strike does occur.
Our goal continues to be to avoid a strike and keep our children in classrooms where they can continue to learn and be supported. I remain hopeful that our labor partners will return to the bargaining table so that we can avoid any disruption to student learning.
If you’re interested, you can read the resolution and/or watch tonight’s Board meeting.
The resolution recognizes that a large-scale absence of staff due to a strike could create an emergency. Student safety and learning continuity remain our top priorities. However, the financial impact is also significant, we may lose between $7-10 million per day in funding if we have to close schools. As a district, we will have to operate differently to lessen the impacts on our students, families, and district finances.
Under state law, the Board may temporarily delegate certain authorities to the Superintendent so the district can act swiftly during such an emergency. Examples of this kind of authority include adjusting schedules, deploying emergency staffing, securing facilities and services, and taking other operational steps required to respond to rapidly changing conditions. If this authority is approved, I will follow up with more information and next steps.
This is an important procedural step in the strike planning process – but it’s also one that displays the severity of the moment we are in. It’s incredibly rare for the Board of Education to be put in the position to consider granting this kind of emergency authority.
I want to be clear: my priority is to reach an agreement with our educators and keep our students in school where they belong. Tomorrow (Feb. 4) when the neutral fact-finding report is released, it will create a moment of real opportunity where hopefully our educators come back to the table and we can work through the remaining issues to keep our classrooms open.
Thank you for your continued partnership, patience, and commitment to our students.
Sincerely,
Maria Su
Superintendent
San Francisco Unified School District