San Francisco Unified school closures are on hold as Superintendent Matt Wayne resigns and Dr. Maria Su is appointed as the new director

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In a stunning development, the San Francisco Unified School District announced Friday that it will not close any schools during the 2025-26 school year.

This comes as current Superintendent Matt Wayne also announced on Friday that he is stepping down and Dr. Maria Su, the co-leader of the city's school stabilization team, will succeed him.

“I believe the time is right for new leadership in the district,” Wayne wrote in a statement posted on the SFUSD website. “From day one, every decision I have made has been focused on helping the students, families and staff of SFUSD, including this one.”

Wayne's resignation comes just days after San Francisco Mayor London Breed publicly criticized the superintendent over his plan to close and consolidate 11 schools.

Breed said she had “lost confidence” in Wayne's ability to handle the problem.

VIDEO: SF Mayor London Breed criticizes SFUSD superintendent over school closure, merger plan

“As the district continues to face difficult decisions, we need a steady hand at the helm,” Board of Education President Matt Alexander said. “I am very pleased that Dr. Maria Su has agreed to lead SFUSD during this critical period.”

It is expected that Dr. Su will be officially named superintendent at the next regular meeting of the Board of Education on October 22, 2024.

SFUSD said in a statement Friday that the resources provided by the mayor as part of the school stabilization team would continue to be available to the district.

The statement also said Su would focus on addressing the district's vast footprint through structural changes to prevent a state takeover, but acknowledged that school closures and mergers were still a possibility.

“Going forward, SFUSD must consider school mergers or closures as a possible strategy to mitigate the impact of declining enrollment,” SFUSD said in its statement. “The decline in student enrollment is not unique to San Francisco. Dr.

MORE: Where did it go wrong? Here's how San Francisco Unified's problems led to school closures

On Oct. 1, Su addressed the board and said she would investigate what went wrong in the district.

“How did we get here? How did the school district get to this place and more importantly, how do we never get to this place again,” Su said.

Mayor Breed released the following statement regarding Su's appointment:

“Dr. Maria Su has been a champion for families and children in our city and she has my full confidence in this new role as leader of our public schools,” said Mayor London Breed. “The most important thing right now is for the school district to close its budget deficit to prevent a state takeover and instill confidence in the district. I know Maria has what it takes to lead this process with clarity, compassion and commitment.” Maria is an outstanding leader and the City will continue to provide Maria the resources and capacity she needs in this new role. We are a city, and if our city is to thrive, SFUSD must thrive.”