Head General Counsel

Danielle Houck serves as the general counsel to the San Francisco Unified School District. In this position, Ms. Houck works collaboratively with the Board of Education, the superintendent and district staff offering legal advice and counsel, while providing leadership to the legal department.

Ms. Houck has significant experience representing public school districts. Prior to joining SFUSD, Ms. Houck was Of Counsel with Friedman & Fulfrost LLP where she provided legal advice and representation to school boards, superintendents and school administrators across a broad spectrum of issues.

Ms. Houck also served as deputy general counsel for the Oakland Unified School District and general counsel for the Alameda Unified School District, where she managed and directed all legal matters for the district, including litigation of statewide significance regarding state funding for public schools (Robles Wong v. State of California); anti-bullying curriculum designed to recognize and protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students (Balde v. AUSD); and school district parcel taxes (Borikas et al. v. AUSD).

Ms. Houck is a member of the State Bar of California, as well as the California Council of School Attorneys and the National Council of School Attorneys. She received her doctorate of law from King Hall School of Law at the University of California, Davis and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and women’s studies at the University of California, Davis, where she graduated with honors.