Maria Su, head of the SF children's department, was elected to lead the school district

The San Francisco Board of Education announced moments ago that Maria Su has agreed to assume the role of superintendent for up to two years after outgoing Superintendent Matt Wayne's resignation was approved today in a 6-1 vote.

The lone dissenting vote, Commissioner Kevine Boggess, believed Wayne deserved to be fired rather than resign. Mission Local is told Wayne will receive an annual salary, about $325,000, and health care.

Su has worked in San Francisco government for more than 18 years, the last 15 years as director of the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. She was also a member of the School Stabilization Team formed by Mayor London Breed on September 22nd.

About her appointment – ​​and the promotion of Dr. Karling Aguilera-Fort, currently Senior Associate Superintendent of Education Services, as her deputy – will be formally voted on at the School Board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, October 22nd. Aguilera-Fort will serve as acting superintendent until Tuesday.

“Why am I doing this? I believe in the school district,” Su tells Mission Local. “I did this work at DCYF and we saw how you can achieve a lot with strong operations, strong systems, strong partnerships and extensive community support.”

Su's contract with SFUSD runs through June 2026: “It's going to take a while to get the operations and systems in order in the school district,” she says.

The extraordinary move to put a veteran city department head in charge of San Francisco's troubled school district is the latest twist in the strange and terrible story of the San Francisco Unified School District. But, says Matt Alexander, president of the Board of Education, it's a turn that has pleased state education officials — and that makes the specter of a state takeover less likely, not more.

“State officials are excited that we will have leadership that will truly address our financial and operational challenges,” Alexander said. “The fact that we hire a leader who is willing to take on these challenges makes them feel more comfortable and less afraid.”

“To be very, very clear,” Alexander continued, California Department of Education officials “have said we are not close to a state takeover — nowhere near it.”