Dear SFUSD Community:

This weekend, school leaders, staff, families, and community members met for the School Planning Summit to work together as a team to create a strategic plan for their schools for next year. As leaders of SFUSD, we would like to extend our gratitude to the school communities working together to set goals and create a vision for supporting each and every student.

Why we are writing to you today

At SFUSD, we want the best for our students, your children. In 2022, the Board of Education unanimously adopted a set of vision, values, goals, and guardrails that collectively serve as our North Star.  This guides us as we prioritize strategies and policies that advance student outcomes. As the Superintendent and Board President, we are responsible for ensuring that our schools have the right conditions to serve our students best.

We believe excellent schools require high-quality and engaging instruction, nurturing and welcoming environments, prepared and collaborative staff, robust and inspiring programs, and reliable and predictable resources. Excellent schools also have the resources and structures to accelerate learning for the students we have historically underserved.

What we are preparing to do

Our unwavering commitment is to create strong, supportive learning environments for each and every student in each and every school. 

To do this, we need to confront some uncomfortable truths. Enrollment has declined and will continue to decline according to demographic trends. We’ve had persistent problems staffing classrooms and filling vacant positions. Many of our facilities are aging. And under-enrollment is spread across all of our schools leading to staffing and resource unpredictability. 

It comes down to this: To create the schools our students deserve and our families expect, we must have fewer schools than we do now. Our resources are simply stretched too thin, impacting our ability to deliver the quality education San Francisco’s children deserve.

That’s why we are at the early stages of a process called Resource Alignment. This means we are investing in what we believe will impact student outcomes most. 

Our Resource Alignment Initiative is our roadmap for this critical work. It’s a comprehensive plan and process informed by other school districts around the country that have struggled with similar challenges.

What’s next

We want to be clear: There will not be any changes to our school portfolio for 2024-25. However, starting this month, we will be engaging with the community as we evaluate future options.

We understand that some of this may be new information and difficult to hear. We understand that you have questions. And we understand that we must handle changes of this magnitude with care. We are dedicated to a transparent decision-making process. We will provide regular updates and feedback opportunities and listen to students, educators, families, and community members.

This Initiative will involve and affect the entire district. Every school will experience some level of change. Our goal is to ensure that these changes don’t unfairly burden any communities more than others while we uphold our commitment to equity. 

We are ready to face these challenges.

Change is never easy. There will be challenges, but we’re prepared to face them head-on with your support. We pledge to keep you informed and involved in every step of our process. 

We invite you to learn more about the Resource Alignment Initiative, including ways to participate, by visiting the SFUSD website. 

Thank you for your support and dedication to creating stronger public schools in San Francisco.

In Community,

Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne

Board of Education President Lainie Motamedi