San Francisco Unified School District Explained

San Francisco Unified School District
Type:Public
Grades:K-12
Superintendent:Dr. Matt Wayne
Schools:121 (March 2024)
Students:49,500 (March 2024)
Staff:10,000 (August 2023)[1]
Location:San Francisco, California
Country:United States

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California.[2] Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Education, the district serves approximately 49,500 students across 121 schools.

SFUSD utilizes an intra-district school choice system and requires students and parents to submit a selection application. Every year in the fall, the SFUSD hosts a Public School Enrollment Fair to provide families access to information about all the schools in the district. This system is set to change as the school board has resolved to overhaul the system to ensure that more students (at least at the elementary level) are placed at neighborhood schools.[3]

SFUSD has the second highest Academic Performance Index among the seven largest California school districts.[4] Newsweek’s national ranking of "Best High Schools in America" named seven SFUSD high schools among the top five percent in the country in 2007. In 2005, two SFUSD schools were recognized by the federal government as No Child Left Behind Blue-Ribbon Schools.

History

Arlene Ackerman began her tenure as the superintendent of SFUSD on August 1, 2000. In May 2004, the district received $3.3 million for whistleblowing a company defrauding a federal program meant to provide internet to disadvantaged children. In June 2004, Ackerman announced that Progress Energy Inc would pay SFUSD $43.1 million to settle a case accusing its subsidiary, Strategic Resource Solutions, of defrauding the district in an energy deal.[5]

The David Lynch Foundation sponsored the Quiet Time transcendental meditation program at various SFUSD middle and high schools. Visitacion Valley Middle School was the first school to adopt the program in 2007.[6] [7]

In 2014, the school district stopped teaching algebra to 8th graders.[8] [9]

SFUSD dropped Columbus Day from the school calendar in January 2017.[10]

In early March 2020, SFUSD temporarily closed Lowell High School and adjacent Lakeshore Elementary School after some family members of students reported respiratory illness at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[11] All schools were then closed on March 16th, for 3 weeks,[12] which was subsequently extended until the end of the school year with distance learning implemented for students.[13] In July 2020, they announced that schools would remain closed into the next school year.[14]

On February 3, 2021, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced that, on February 11, he will sue the San Francisco Board of Education, SFUSD, and Superintendent Vincent Matthews for violating state law by not having a plan to "offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible". The lawsuit was the first of its kind, wherein a civil action is filed by a city against its school district over COVID-19 school closures, within the state of California. The suit is supported by Mayor London Breed, who has criticized the Board for focusing on renaming 44 SFUSD schools during the pandemic. Both the Board and Matthews have criticized the suit, calling it wasteful and inaccurate.[15] [16] [17] [18]

On February 15, 2022, three members of the school board were recalled in the 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections.[19]

The district plans to close some schools by 2025 amid a loss of 10,000 students.[20]

Student admissions

SFUSD previously practiced a race-based admissions system, presently operates under a choice assignment system.

San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District (1980s)

In 1983 the NAACP sued the school district and won a consent decree that mandated that no more than 45% of any racial group may make up the percentage of students at a single school. At the time, white and black students were the largest demographic groups in the school district. The decree was intended to benefit black children. When it was discovered that Hispanic children also had low test scores, they were added to the decree's intended beneficiaries.[21]

Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District (1990s)

See main article: Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District. In a five-year period ending in 1999, Asian and Latino students were the largest demographic groups in the SFUSD. In 1994, after several ethnic Chinese students were denied admission to programs because too many ethnic Chinese students were present, ethnic Chinese parents sued SFUSD arguing that the system promoted racial discrimination. On April 15, 1998, the Chinese-American group asked a federal appeals court to end the admissions practice.[22] The system required ethnic Chinese students to receive higher scores than other ethnic groups in order to be admitted to Lowell High School, the city's most prestigious public high school.[23] Waldemar Rojas, the superintendent, wanted to keep the decree because the district had received $37 million in desegregation funds. The NAACP had defended the decree. White parents who were against the racial quotas had a tendency to leave San Francisco.

In 1998, a federal appeals court ruled that the race-based criteria should not be ended, but that SFUSD is required to justify why it required higher test scores from ethnic Chinese applicants to gain admission to the school district's most prestigious high school and that the school district is required to prove, during a trial held in the 1999–2000 school year, that segregation is remaining in the school system and that the limitation of the ethnic groups at each school is the only possible remedy.[24] On February 16, 1999, lawyers representing the Chinese parents in Ho v. SFUSD revealed that the school district had agreed to a settlement that removed the previous race-based admission system; William Orrick, the U.S. district judge, had planned to officially announce the news of the settlement the following day. The district planned to implement a "diversity index" in which race was one factor, but in December 1999 Orrick rejected the plan as unconstitutional. Orrick ordered the district to resubmit the plan without race as a factor or to resubmit the plan under the settlement that had been reached with the Chinese parents.[25] In January 2000 the district agreed to remove race as a factor of consideration for admission.[26]

Expiration of the Consent Decree

Critics of the diversity index created by Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District point out that many schools, including Lowell, have become even less racially diverse since it was enacted.

On November 15, 2005, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied a request to extend the Consent Decree, which was set to expire on December 31, 2005, after it had been extended once before to December 31, 2002. The ruling claimed "since the settlement of the Ho litigation [resulting in the institution of the "diversity index"], the consent decree has proven to be ineffective, if not counterproductive, in achieving diversity in San Francisco public schools" by making schools more racially segregated.[27]

As of 2007, SFUSD admission factors include race-neutral aspects, such as the socioeconomic status of a student's family. Lyanne Melendez of KGO-TV wrote in 2007 "but the local courts and the district have found that race-neutral factors haven't worked in San Francisco's case."[28]

Current Student Assignment System (2011–present)

In 2011, SFUSD instituted a full choice assignment system, but "despite the District’s good intentions, San Francisco’s schools are more segregated now under the current policy than they were thirty years ago." then under the OER system implemented after San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District from 1983 to 2000.[29] Citing choice did not increase diversity, but encourage the opposite, as well as the problem of requiring the time to "shop" for schools.

Elementary Zone-based Assignment System (in development; Fall 2026 earliest implementation)

In 2018, the school board voted unanimously to create a new plan to address segregation in the district. The plan seeks to focus on diversity, predictibility, and proximity with a zone-based assignment system for Elementary students, and will "also consider the demographic characteristics of each child’s immediate neighborhood when assigning students to help ensure that every school reflects the diversity of the zone it's in."[30]

Current schools

High schools

Comprehensive schools
Alternative schools

Middle schools

K-8 schools

K-5 schools

Closed or merged schools

High schools

Middle schools

K-8 schools

Elementary schools

Superintendents

The following is a list of SFUSD Superintendents: (additional information is needed to complete the list between 1851 and 1934)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: San Francisco Chronicle . S.F. school district charts map for district overhaul. . San Francisco Chronicle . 2023-08-30 . 2023-08-30.
  2. San Francisco History Center . San Francisco Unified School District Records . 1854-2005 (Bulk 1874-1978) . .PDF . San Francisco Public Library . vii . 2008 . 2010-02-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060301030345/http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/librarylocations/sfhistory/pdf/sfusdrecords.pdf . March 1, 2006 .
  3. News: Tucker . Jill . SF school board plans to replace much-criticized student assignment system . 1 September 2019 . SF Chronicle . December 12, 2018.
  4. Web site: About SFUSD: Did you know . San Francisco Unified School District . 2007 . 2010-02-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100609220716/http://portal.sfusd.edu/template/default.cfm?page=about.didyouknow . 2010-06-09 .
  5. News: Knight. Heather. July 6, 2004. SAN FRANCISCO / Schools chief learns tough lessons on fraud / Ackerman's 4 years of fear, frustration pay off in settlement. SFGATE.
  6. Web site: Kirp. David L.. 2014-01-13. Meditation transforms roughest San Francisco schools. 2021-10-23. SFGATE. en-US.
  7. Web site: Tucker. Jill. Riley. Neal J.. 2013-05-07. Celebrities join S.F. schools' meditation. 2021-10-23. San Francisco Chronicle. en-US.
  8. https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2021/12/san-francisco-math/ Controversial math guidelines have had mixed results at San Francisco Unified
  9. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-algebra-middle-school-18645514.php Algebra would return to middle schools under plan before SFUSD board
  10. Web site: Barba. Michael. 2017-01-25. SF school board wipes 'Columbus Day' off academic calendar. 2021-12-13. The San Francisco Examiner. en-US.
  11. Web site: 2020-03-11. SFUSD To Close Lakeshore Elementary Immediately As 4 Students Report Respiratory Illness. 2021-02-22. KPIX. CBS. en-US.
  12. Web site: 2020-03-12. Glen Park Elementary closed after seven students reported ill. 2021-02-23. The San Francisco Examiner. en-US.
  13. Web site: 2020-04-15. Coronavirus Update: Social Distancing Will Shape Reopening Of San Francisco Bay Area Schools. 2021-02-23. en-US.
  14. Web site: Asperin. Alexa Mae. 2020-07-15. San Francisco public schools to start distance learning Aug. 17. 2021-02-23. KRON4. en-US.
  15. News: Gecker. Jocelyn. February 3, 2021. San Francisco sues its own school district to reopen classes. ABC News. AP News.
  16. Web site: Rasmus. Allie. 2021-02-03. City of San Francisco sues its own school district to force classrooms to open. 2021-02-03. KTVU FOX 2. en-US.
  17. Web site: Li. David K.. Gostanian. Ali. Farivar. Cyrus. February 3, 2021. San Francisco sues its own school district, demands restart of in-person instruction. 2021-02-03. NBC News. en.
  18. Web site: Knight. Heather. 2021-02-03. San Francisco sues its own school district, board over reopening: 'They have earned an F'. 2021-02-03. San Francisco Chronicle. en-US.
  19. Web site: Fuller . Thomas . In Landslide, San Francisco Forces Out 3 Board of Education Members . The New York Times . 26 December 2022.
  20. News: Tucker . Jill . San Francisco poised to close some schools by 2025 amid loss of 10,000 students . 2024-03-02 . San Francisco Chronicle . en.
  21. Walsh, Joan. "A new racial era for San Francisco schools." (Archive) Salon. Thursday February 18, 1999. Retrieved on August 25, 2013.
  22. "SCHOOL'S RACE QUOTAS UNDER FIRE." Contra Costa Times. April 16, 1998. News p. A10. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "SAN FRANCISCO - A Chinese-American group asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to end a 15-year-old, judge-approved racial admissions system in San Francisco schools that requires Chinese students to score higher than others to get into the top high school. The students are entitled to "the right to attend the public schools of San Francisco without being subject to a system of race and ethnic quotas," Daniel Girard, lawyer for Chinese-American students and parents challenging the... "
  23. "CHALLENGING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS." Los Angeles Daily News. July 19, 1994. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "To this country's great shame, there was a time when an American child who studied hard and earned good grades nonetheless was held back from the best public school classes because of the color of his skin. That young child was punished because he was black. Oddly, school districts across America have determined that the best way to atone for such racial injustice is more skin-color and ethnic discrimination. In the San Francisco Unified School District, children wishing to attend Lowell[...]"
  24. "COURT ALLOWS RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS S.F. SCHOOLS: THE DISTRICT MUST RETURN IN SEPTEMBER TO PROVE ITS CASE." San Jose Mercury News. June 5, 1998. California News p. 3B. Retrieved on August 25, 2013. "With misgivings, a federal appeals court refused Thursday to end a 15-year-old system of racial admissions to San Francisco public schools, but said SFUSD must justify its requirement of higher test scores for Chinese-Americans to get into the top high school. The San Francisco Unified School District must prove, at a trial in time for the 1999-2000 school year, that segregation persists in the schools and can be remedied only by limiting the representation of each ethnic group at[...]"
  25. "JUDGE TELLS S.F. SCHOOLS TO REDO ADMISSIONS PLAN." San Jose Mercury News. December 18, 1999. Local Section p. 3B. Retrieved on August 25, 2013. "A federal judge Friday rejected as unconstitutional a plan by San Francisco schools to implement a diversity index that would consider race and ethnicity in the admissions process. U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered San Francisco Unified School District officials by Jan. 7 to either resubmit the plan without race and ethnicity as factors or resubmit the plan being implemented this year under a settlement between the district and Chinese-American students. The settlement,[...]"
  26. "SCHOOL ASSIGNMENTS NOT BASED ON RACE." San Jose Mercury News. January 9, 2000. California News p. 3B. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "In compliance with a judge's order, the San Francisco Unified School District has decided to abandon its effort to use race as a factor inassigning students to schools. The school district informed U.S. District Judge William Orrick on Friday of its plan to continue using its current race-neutral plan, which was implemented last spring. Orrick had ruled the district could not use a proposed diversity index that would have used race as one of the factors for assigning students to[...]"
  27. Web site: The United States District Court of the Northern District of California. 110805order.pdf. March 28, 2021.
  28. Melendez, Lyanne. "S.F. Schools Reviewing Diversity Policy." (Archive) KGO-TV (ABC). Thursday June 28, 2007. Retrieved on August 25, 2013.
  29. Web site: Facing Our Past, Changing Our Future, Part II: Five Decades of Desegregation in SFUSD (1971-today) SFUSD. 2021-03-28. www.sfusd.edu.
  30. Web site: Changes to Student Assignment Policy SFUSD. 2021-03-28. www.sfusd.edu.
  31. Web site: Chinese Education Center: Home Page. School Loop. 2013-08-08.
  32. Web site: Outside Lands magazine, "Roosevelt History, Part 2". Western Neighborhoods Project. 2023-11-03.
  33. Web site: San Francisco Call, February 13, 1908. Library of Congress. 2023-11-03.
  34. News: Poly High alums seek spirit of '68 . The San Francisco Chronicle . Venise . Wagner . 1997-04-21.
  35. Web site: Davis Ms . 2007-07-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230932/http://portal.sfusd.edu/template/default.cfm?page=ms.davis . 2007-09-27 .
  36. Web site: Joseph Pomeroy Nourse. Nourse.net. 30 August 2016. 21 May 2008.
  37. Web site: Asimov. Nanette. Thomas Shaheen - 1970s S.F. schools chief backed desegregation. SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. 30 August 2016. 5 October 2007.
  38. Web site: Steven Morena. Legacy.com. San Francisco Chronicle. 30 August 2016. 15 May 2011.
  39. Web site: OBITUARIES : Robert Alioto, 54; Former San Francisco School Chief. Los Angeles Times. 30 August 2016. 21 May 1988.
  40. Web site: Gross. Jan. Schools Chief Seen as Intense, Effective Manager. The New York Times. 30 August 2016. 5 September 1993.
  41. Web site: Dr. Waldemar "Bill" Rojas. Hispanic Border Leadership Institute. Arizona State University. 30 August 2016.
  42. Web site: San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard Carranza is top pick to lead Houston Independent School District. San Francisco Unified School District. San Francisco Unified School District. 30 August 2016.
  43. Web site: San Francisco superintendent's resignation points to ongoing turnover in school leadership. 2021-03-28. EdSource. en.
  44. Web site: 2022-05-12 . SFUSD announces new school superintendent . 2022-12-12 . KTVU FOX 2 . en-US.

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