S.F. school board candidates focus on avoiding state takeover
The San Francisco school board race on the November ballot might be well down the ballot from the divisive presidential election and even below the city’s heated mayoral race, but the outcome in the education contest is no less crucial.
The next school board will arguably face one of the most difficult periods in the district’s recent history with massive budget cuts needed to avert insolvency and an overhaul of the student assignment system pending along with a new payroll system to replace a bug-riddled $40 million platform.
The four members elected in the Nov. 5 election will join the seven-member board when they’re seated in January and will likely grapple with school closures within the next four years, as enrollment continues to decline by an estimated 5,000 students.
At the same time, they will need to earn back public trust, which waned during the pandemic and nosedived in recent months amid massive administrative dysfunction and a botched school closure process.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-school-board-candidates-19857782.php