Update: Following the San Francisco Board of Education meeting, SFUSD published a statement on Sept. 22 at 3:25 p.m. indicating that Matt Wayne will remain the district’s superintendent and that the board is committed to working with him. Read the full statement here.
On Sunday at 9 a.m. the San Francisco Board of Education convened for an emergency meeting to discuss retaining or firing the district’s superintendent, Matt Wayne.
The emergency meeting comes just days after the San Francisco Unified School District delayed its announcement of which schools are set to close or merge, leaving parents and students in the dark. Acting school board president Matt Alexander has acknowledged that the board put the brakes on the district’s plan due to questions over its methodological and strategic soundness. His predecessor in the position, Lainie Motamedi, recently resigned citing the district’s poor leadership and dysfunction.
Wayne, who has served as superintendent for over two years, has been heavily criticized for his handling of the pending closures.
The meeting, which was held at the school district’s headquarters at 555 Franklin Street, was closed to the public but some 60 parents, school employees and students attended an hour-long public comment beforehand. Many took to the podium to express their concern over the district’s problems that are pulling it apart at the seams.
“Our school district is in a challenging and difficult moment right now,” said Alexander during his opening statement. The board president explained that the last-minute meeting was organized in light of a number of issues, including the delayed announcement of closures and the district’s mishandling of a hiring freeze that led to job offers being rescinded after the recipients had left their prior jobs.
While members of the community agreed on the problems — namely the closures, but also other woes including a massive budget deficit, bloated administration, staffing issues and the district’s costly and dysfunctional payroll software — not everyone agreed on the solutions.
Some made clear that Wayne must go, others expressed concern that firing the head of the district would cause too much disruption during an already disruptive time.
“Removing Dr. Wayne would further destabilize our whole ecosystem of care, and would increase anxiety and uncertainty at a time when we need it the most,” said Helen Parker Leigh, the principal at Sherman Elementary.
“If the purpose of this meeting is to fire the superintendent, it will only cause more chaos. What we need in this moment is stability,” said another attendant.
“If you have a leader that is not leading well, I don’t think that keeping him in power is going to help,” said Anna Gracia, a parent at San Francisco Community school. Gracia said that, ultimately, Wayne was responsible for the closures in the first place. “We need to stop it where it starts.”
Others spoke to the chaos but did not weigh in on the superintendent specifically. “I’m not here to defend the superintendent. He must be held accountable through a deliberate process, when and how matters,” said Meredith Dodson, from the SF Parent Coalition. “I’m here to defend our 50,000 students. They need your calm and strategic focus. They deserve a functioning school system, not finger pointing.”
While the planned meeting was posted to the calendar on the SFUSD website — 24 hours in advance, per state open meeting laws — most attendants were caught off guard. Many heard about the meeting through word of mouth following a San Francisco Chronicle report on Saturday.
“I have to say, just the decision to even consider firing the superintendent before the list of school closures has been released and admits the budget crisis — this doesn’t impart a lot of confidence to me,” said Emily, a teacher and future SFUSD parent.
Alexander said the Board of Education will release a statement later today following the closed-door session. The next scheduled meeting for the board is on Tuesday. In the meantime, he emphasized that there were no easy answers.
“None of us knows the answer, because if we knew the answer, these problems already would have been solved,” Alexander said. “So these really are difficult questions and difficult decisions.”
About the author
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]
Speaker Johnson says transgender women won’t be allowed to use women’s restrooms in Capitol
House Speaker Mike Johnson said transgender women cannot use women's restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings. This also applies to changing rooms and locker rooms, Johnson said."All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex," the statement said Wednesday.Johnson continued, "It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol."After winning her election earlier this month to be Delaware's sole representative in the House, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride will be the first openly trans member of Congress.McBride responded to Johnson Wednesday by saying, "I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will […]
Maple Vanilla Pumpkin Pie – Better Living
Better Living uses affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission (for which we are deeply grateful) at no cost to you. Looking for a pumpkin pie recipe with a little pizzazz this holiday season? Give this Maple Vanilla Pumpkin Pie recipe a try! This wonderful pumpkin pie has hints of maple, vanilla, and warm spices all within a rich custard-like pumpkin filling. It’s the ultimate pumpkin pie for your holiday table and we’re sure you’ll want to make this a yearly tradition This Vanilla Maple Pumpkin Pie recipe is intended for one 9-inch prepared pie crust. To save time a store-bought crust is your pie-making friend. If you would like to make your own pie crust, try this highly rated Butter Flaky Pie Crust or use your own family favorite recipe. […]
SFMTA board approves new Valencia bikeway—but few are happy
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board unanimously approved the new curbside Valencia Street bike lane on Tuesday, and admitted that the transit agency should have been more cautious with experiments in merchant corridors.That experiment — a bike lane running up the center of the street — had pitted transit advocates against shopkeepers. Now cyclists and the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association were finally on the same page: Neither were fans of the new design.“The [merchants association] cannot officially support the side-running bike lane,” said Manny Yekutiel, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, which has fought the old design. Yekutiel was one of dozens who spoke up in the three-hour-long meeting held at City Hall.Yekutiel, echoing long-held concerns from merchants against streetscape changes, said the new design will get rid of a lot of the parking spots on Valencia Street. […]
UN watchdog meets to discuss condemning Iran over nuclear program, AP explains
Iran has defied international demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, according to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency seen by The Associated Press. The AP's Stephanie Liechtenstein explains. Source: www.yahoo.com
Banderas flags
Banderas flags Source: missionlocal.org
Related
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]
SFMTA board approves new Valencia bikeway—but few are happy
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board unanimously approved the new curbside Valencia Street bike lane on Tuesday, and admitted that the transit agency should have been more cautious with experiments in merchant corridors.That experiment — a bike lane running up the center of the street — had pitted transit advocates against shopkeepers. Now cyclists and the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association were finally on the same page: Neither were fans of the new design.“The [merchants association] cannot officially support the side-running bike lane,” said Manny Yekutiel, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, which has fought the old design. Yekutiel was one of dozens who spoke up in the three-hour-long meeting held at City Hall.Yekutiel, echoing long-held concerns from merchants against streetscape changes, said the new design will get rid of a lot of the parking spots on Valencia Street. […]
Banderas flags
Banderas flags Source: missionlocal.org
Nima Momeni contradicts himself on witness stand
In his third day of testimony Nima Momeni, who is on trial for the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee seemed to contradict some of his earlier statements. For the most part, Momeni answered the questions about the April 2023 incident and aftermath using very similar phrasing as he did during two days of testimony last week. Most significantly, Momeni testified earlier that the altercation between Lee and himself began over a “joke” he made to Lee about spending time with his family instead of going to a strip club. Judge Alexandra Gordon, who asked questions through the morning on behalf of the jurors, asked Momeni what happened after this joke and whether Momeni ever apologized for it. That’s when Momeni mentioned knowing Lee was in town to see his children. This raised an issue: Last week, under questioning from prosecutor Omid […]
Matt Alexander has 287-vote lead in school board race
Matt Alexander, the incumbent president of the Board of Education, appears poised to keep his job after eking out a victory over challenger John Jersin for the fourth and final open seat. The San Francisco Department of Elections moments ago released the results of another 1,961 ballots, bringing the grand total of ballots to 411,708 — 78.83 percent of the electorate. Very few ballots are left to be counted — only around 250 of them, including 200 vote-by-mail ballots and 50 provisional ones cast at polling places throughout the city and the City Hall voting center. Even if the 250 remaining ballots all go Jersin’s way— a mathematical anomaly — it would not be enough for Jersin to flip the results. Alexander has a lead of 287 votes —he gained 37 votes from the last drop on Nov. 16. Alexander now has 122,588 votes while Jersin […]
Mission restaurant El Buen Comer wins mole contest
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. As the air cools into autumn, San Francisco also enters the perfect season for mole — a quintessential hearty Mexican sauce that requires a melange of nuts, fruits, chili peppers, and spices such as cumin and cinnamon. A “Moles to Die For” contest drew a crowd of some 60 people to the Mission District on Saturday to taste moles from six chefs who brought their recipes from different regions of Mexico.The contest, organized by the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts at 2868 Mission St., marks the finale of the Día de Los Muertos season. Guests spent two hours on Saturday tasting, feasting, and returning to taste and feast again on samples from the six contenders. In the background was Mexican dance music, […]
