School Reorganization

SFUSD is redesigning how students are assigned to elementary schools, and deciding where academic programs are located. The two go together, because one depends on the other.

The district has two elementary assignment policies on the books. Board Policy 5101, adopted in 2011, is the citywide choice system running today. Board Policy 5101.2, adopted in 2020, created a zone-based system but was never put in place. This work is about deciding which approach is right for SFUSD now.

Where students live and where school seats are do not line up. Some neighborhoods do not have enough seats for the children who live there. Others have empty seats. About 7,500 elementary seats sit empty today.

About 40 out of every 100 elementary seats are in citywide schools or language programs. Those seats are not tied to any neighborhood. No assignment rule can place a child in a nearby seat that does not exist.

Access means the school and the program your child needs are within reach of where you live. That is not the same as being able to apply to many schools. A family can have a long list of schools to apply to and still have no language pathway and no strong option close to home. Access depends on where programs are located, and whether or not you can apply to them. Program placement and our policy on citywide access is part of this work.

The decisions build on each other. The Board sets a direction in October. Program placement follows in December, because where programs sit determines how many seats each neighborhood has. The Board adopts the full policy in April.

That leaves 2027 to do the work of putting it in place: drawing boundaries, updating our enrollment systems, training staff, and explaining the new system to families. It has to be ready by fall 2027, when applications open for school year 2028-29.

Any changes would start in school year 2028-29. They would apply to families entering TK or kindergarten for the first time, and families new to SFUSD entering an elementary or K-8 school. Students already enrolled will not be moved.

This work currently focuses on elementary and K-8 assignment rules, language and citywide program placement, TK expansion, special education program placement, and middle school feeder patterns.

The Board is holding seven study sessions between August 2026 and May 2027. Study sessions are working meetings where the Board and staff discuss information in public. They are not decision meetings. Public comment is taken before each session, on the topics listed on that meeting's agenda.

Slides, recordings, and a plain-language recap are posted after every session. We will share how to give input at each stage.