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District 7 candidates respond to pending school closures

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Welcome to “Meet the Candidates,” where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 — which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal — Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.


It has been a rocky time for the San Francisco Unified School District, which is currently dealing with a number of woes including pending closures, a worsening financial outlook and staffing issues. Under the “Resource Alignment Initiative,” the district is looking to close and merge selected schools — although which schools have or will be selected is still unknown.

Last week, the district delayed the announcement of which schools are slated for closure, causing further disruption and anger among parents and students who have been left in the dark. On Sunday, Mayor London Breed announced that the city will intervene by sending a team of experts to support the school district and deploying $8.4 million in financial support.

This week, we asked the candidates: What are your thoughts on the SFUSD ‘Resource Alignment Initiative’?

Take a look at their responses below.


A cartoon of a woman in a business suit.

Myrna Melgar

  • Job: District 7 supervisor
  • Age: 56
  • Housing: Homeowner
  • Transport: Bike
  • Languages: Spanish, French, Swedish
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree, Excelsior College; master’s degree in urban planning, Columbia University
  • Residency:  Living in Ingleside Terraces since 2011, and lived in District 7 while in college at SF State between 1987 and 1991

As a public school parent, I am distressed about the poor financial situation of our SFUSD, and want to see decisive action and good decisions. Public information has been delayed, but what I want to see is a plan that leaves our kids set up for success, and tackles the long term structural issues. I want SFUSD to do more of what has proven to produce better outcomes and drive enrollment: language immersion programs and K-8 — so any school closures that result in more of that, and produce equitable outcomes, is what we should be aiming for.

Endorsed by: SF Labor Council, SF Tenants Union, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Senator Scott Weiner, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, SFFF Local 798 (#2)… read more here


A cartoon of a man in an orange circle.

Stephen Martin-Pinto

  • Job: Firefighter/major, U.S. Marine Corps reserves
  • Age: 46 
  • Housing: Tenant in SF, property owner and landlord in Lemon Grove, California
  • Transport: Fairly evenly split between car, Muni and walking
  • Languages: Spanish, Russian, Georgian
  • Education: University of California, Davis
  • Residency: Living in District 7’s Sunnyside since 2014, and earlier from 1983 to 1998

The fundamental question to ask is how did we even get to this point? Lack of funding due to declining enrollment. Our schools have been mismanaged for decades, and we have spent millions of dollars on unaccountable programs with no results. Furthermore, with incidents of violence at schools such as Everett MS, and lack of ability of school staff to discipline problematic kids, many parents are pulling their kids out of SFUSD. I don’t want closing schools to be the answer, but it might have to be until we start practicing fiscal responsibility and accountability to the kids and the parents.

Endorsed by: Former District 7 Supervisor Tony Hall, former Planning Commissioner Michael Antonini, former Police Chief Tony Ribera, drug policy advocate Tom Wolf, BART Board Director Debora Allen, SFFF Local 798 (#3) … read more here



Source: missionlocal.org

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