Is San Francisco's list of school closures delayed again? District offers little clarity

Meredith Dodson, executive director of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, said SFUSD leaders she has communicated with have said there have been no changes to the revised schedule.

“We have parents and community members who are represented on the (mayor's) district advisory board around the RAI process, and they are also clear that this timeline has never changed,” she said.

But Dodson said parents' concerns are increasing as the enrollment fair, time for school tours and the elusive date for announcing school closures draw ever closer. Friday's news and the lack of a clear response to it have left them even more confused.

“I think it would be the district's job to communicate everything to the public and the media soon in response to what came out Friday. If that was inaccurate, then it is the district's responsibility to clear up anything that was inaccurate in the wide-reach media,” she told KQED.

“I'm hoping that now that it's Monday we see something from the district that updates the media and the community. Are you still on schedule or is there still something to the article from Friday? Should we fear that there will be a further delay?”

Erin Mapes, a middle school art teacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School, said the lack of information has also been frustrating and stressful for teachers.

“I wish there was more transparency from the district about what is happening and why the delays continue and how the plan is progressing,” she said. “Even if we don’t know it, it affects us too because it’s just in the back of our minds that it’s coming, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

She said the district has lost confidence in recent years due to a series of issues. A payroll fiasco resulted in employees not being paid properly or, in some cases, not being paid at all. SFUSD officials recently admitted that mishandling of special education hiring has left paramedic candidates in limbo while the positions were vacant at the start of this school year. Now the consolidation process appears to be increasingly rocky.

According to Dudnick, the timeline for the school board's decisions on the list of schools to close has not changed: The first reading of Wayne's recommendation is expected to take place on Nov. 12, and the school board vote that would finalize the decision is scheduled Dec 10

The changes will come into effect at the end of the academic year.

“We understand that the recent uncertainty about our plans is troubling,” Dudnick said. “However, we believe it is important to wait until we have clear and reliable information about what comes next. We are working urgently and diligently to do this as quickly as possible.”