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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 […]

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Meet the school board candidates: What makes you stand out?

Welcome back to the “Meet the Candidates” series for the school board, where we ask each candidate one question every two weeks. They must answer the question in 100 words or fewer. We will link to longer answers.Eleven candidates are vying for four seats on the city’s seven-person school board. The election will take place on Nov. 5. Non-citizen parents of children living in the city are permitted to vote in school board elections, and can find information on doing so here.We’ve been following the school board candidates since summer, asking their opinions on the rescheduled antisemitism workshops, the now-scrapped school closure plan and balancing the budget. Amid a crowded slate, the candidates have sometimes presented very similar answers. So this week, we asked the candidates: What makes you stand out, and why should people vote for you?Candidates cited occupational […]

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District 5 candidates weigh in on school district shakeup

Here’s the latest in our “Meet the Candidates” series for District 5, in which we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election. Four candidates are challenging incumbent Supervisor Dean Preston to represent District 5, which spans from the east end of Golden Gate Park through Haight-Ashbury, Japantown and the Western Addition, the Lower Haight and Hayes Valley, and most of the Tenderloin.First we had school closures, and talks of a city intervention and a state takeover. Then we had the superintendent resign, and school closures were off the table. For our last week of questions, we asked our candidates what they think of the whole situation at San Francisco Unified School District. Bilal Mahmood Job: Founder of private and philanthropic organizations Age: 37 Residency: Tenant in District 5 since May 2023 Transportation: Walking […]

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Maria Su, head of SF Children’s Dept., picked to lead school district

The San Francisco Board of Education moments ago announced that Maria Su has agreed to take the role of superintendent for up to two years after outgoing superintendent Matt Wayne’s resignation was accepted today by a 6-1 vote. The sole dissenting vote, commissioner Kevine Boggess, felt Wayne deserved to be fired rather than resigning. Mission Local is told that Wayne will receive a year’s salary, some $325,000, and health care.Su has worked in San Francisco government for more than 18 years, with the last 15 of those coming as the head of the city’s Department of Children, Youth and their Families. She had also been serving on the school stabilization team formed by Mayor London Breed on Sept. 22. Her appointment — and the promotion of Dr. Karling Aguilera-Fort, presently the senior associate superintendent of education services, as her deputy — will be formally […]

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District 1 candidates, almost all parents, discuss school closures

Welcome back to our weekly “Meet the Candidates” series, in which District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse. San Francisco Unified School District is planning to close and merge selected schools, part of its plan called the Resource Alignment Initiative. But the district has delayed announcing which schools are slated for closure, first until this month and now until after the election. In response to that, 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.  We ask candidates this week: What are your thoughts on SFUSD’s Resource […]

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School board candidates on rescheduled antisemitism workshops

Welcome back to the “Meet the Candidates” series for the school board, where we ask each candidate one question every two weeks. They must answer the question in 100 words or fewer. We will link to longer answers.Eleven candidates are vying for four seats on the city’s seven-person school board. The election will take place on Nov. 5. Non-citizen parents of children living in the city are permitted to vote in school board elections, and can find information on doing so here.In September, the San Francisco Unified School District abruptly canceled mandatory antisemitism workshops for educators that would have been run by the American Jewish Committee. The move came after some parents and community groups expressed concerns with the American Jewish Committee; some have called it a “Pro-Israel lobbying group.” Other community members, however, criticized the decision amid what they […]

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District 3 candidates weigh in on school closures

Between February and the November election, Mission Local is asking each District 3 candidate one question per week, and candidates will get 100 words to respond. We will compile all responses to the 40-odd questions on a “Meet the Candidates” page, so that voters can get a full picture of their stances.Because Supervisor Aaron Peskin terms out next January, six candidates have filed to run for his seat to lead District 3, which includes North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, the Financial District, Russian Hill and Nob Hill. Question this week: What are your thoughts on the SFUSD ‘Resource Alignment Initiative’?One candidate said “I am firmly against closing schools in San Francisco.” Sharon Lai Job: Economic recovery leader at the World Economic Forum, former board member at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Age: 41 Residency: Tenant and owner, living in District 3 since […]

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District 7 candidates respond to pending school closures

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 […]

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Parents sound off at emergency school board meeting

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 […]

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School Board candidates struggle to stand out on crowded stage

With the San Francisco Unified School District readying to sail off the edge of the map, 10 of the 11 declared Board of Education candidates shared their plans on proposed school closures and the district’s mammoth budget deficit with over 100 community members at a Friday night forum. The 11 candidate, Lefteris Eleftheriou, didn’t attend the forum held at Gordon J. Lau Elementary School and moderated by Crystal Van and Emily Fung of Chinese for Affirmative Action.The overcrowded stage made it de facto difficult for the candidates to differentiate themselves. That, however, didn’t seem to apply to candidate Matt Alexander, the only incumbent in the race. While his nine competitors cited their prior work experiences in other industries or presented their visions for education, Alexander enjoyed an unparalleled advantage as he was able to list his accomplishments as a board member. From […]

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