Summer break for the San Francisco Unified School District starts in two weeks. A break sounds nice. The past year has been a whirlwind of controversies, changes, and uncertainty for everyone involved with SF’s public schools. For example, after months of layoff talk, the district announced on May 16 it would spare the jobs of 151 counselors and teachers’ aides — yet another rollercoaster moment.
You’re forgiven if you haven’t kept pace. So before summer starts, here’s a FAQ on what students, parents, and teachers might expect when they return to school in mid-August, from the budget situation to layoffs to academic reforms.
This is what we know at the moment. But this is SFUSD; who knows what surprises are around the corner?
How many staff are getting laid off?
Thanks to the surprise May 16 announcement, the answer is less than expected. Before the reversal, 151 counselors and paraeductors, who often help out in classrooms, expected pink slips.
The district still needs to cut $114 million, nearly 10 percent of its budget, and send final cuts to the state in about a month. About 80 percent of SFUSD spending goes to its workers. All layoffs instead will happen at the central office. Superintendent Maria Su is proposing a major reorganization, with 205 positions of 1,080 cut to save nearly $34 million.
Since 75 of those positions are already vacant and 30 people will take early retirement, the pink slip total comes to 100.
No teachers will be laid off, but at SFUSD’s last count, 378 are accepting early retirement offers. The district also said on May 16 it can hire 77 more teachers than expected, cleared by state regulators.
The Board of Education will review a final budget in June for approval. When asked if the district has made all cuts necessary, SFUSD spokesperson Katrina Kincade did not answer directly, but sent links to documents and advised watching upcoming board meetings.
How will early retirements and central office layoffs affect classrooms?
The short answer is no one knows yet. An analysis is coming soon, says Su.
Short staffing is nothing new at SFUSD. Even before the pandemic, which made things worse, the district struggled with chronic teacher turnover of about 10 percent a year. Last year, the district had to hire more than 200 temporary educators to fill classrooms, says Frank Lara, vice president of the teachers union.
“One of our top priorities is making sure there is a qualified teacher in every classroom at the start of school year 2025-26,” says Kincade.
It will be a tall order to staff up with fully credentialed educators, given how late the outlook is shifting. To help fill gaps this August, Kincade says SFUSD is “asking for qualified non-classroom teachers to come back into the classroom to fill teaching positions,” referring to teachers who work as reading specialists, for example.
Lara predicts many will not want to go back to the classroom. The district’s task might be easier because state regulators, who have partial control over SFUSD financial decisions and have clamped down on hiring for a year, will now allow extra hires — the 77 teachers that the district mentioned in the recent announcement.
However, it’s still unclear if the district can hire using outside money. Earlier this year, The Frisc reported a freeze on tens of millions of dollars in SF voter-approved funds and PTA funding for personnel uses until the district resolves confusion that stems from years of bad record-keeping. When asked if those funds are now available, SFUSD’s Kincade provided a guidance document with complicated hiring rules and conditions.
Will more elementary students have to double up two grades in one class?
As The Frisc reported in March, combination classes work in certain conditions. The district said in a January memo that more combo classes are likely this August “in every elementary school possible, including where you have to split one grade into multiple multi-grade combination classes.”
The memo also said combinations of kindergartners and first graders might occur when a school has fewer than 14 kindergartners; or “where appropriate,” SFUSD might combine transitional kindergarten and kindergarten classes.
Teachers that run combo classes, like 4th-5th grade Grattan Elementary teacher Amy Clark, previously told The Frisc that the only way this works is to collaborate with other teachers to split up certain lessons.
SFUSD did not have an answer when asked if the canceled layoffs and extra teacher hires will put combo class plans on the shelf.
What’s happening with enrollment and school assignments?
Driven largely by transitional kindergarten, the district received 15,400 applications for the 2025-26 year, 10 percent more than the previous year. It’s welcome news after decades of decline — in 1967, SFUSD had 93,000 students, now down to about 48,000. State funding is tied to enrollment.
Families whose students received assignments to district schools had until the end of March to accept or decline. Those who didn’t get their first choice can be on a waitlist until the end of August. Updated enrollment figures for 2025-26 should be available after the year starts.
The assignment system is notorious for leaving families without top choices. A revamp, in large part so students can go to school closer to home, has been in the works since the previous decade. Until recently the rollout was due for the 2026-27 school year, but a new delay, first reported by The Frisc last month, came with no new due date. Meanwhile, small tweaks to transitional kindergarten applications seem to be paying off.
SFUSD brought algebra back to middle school this year. Will my 8th grader take algebra next year?
Ten years after the school board abolished algebra from middle school, the district decided that 8th graders ready and willing should again have the option. Next year will be the second year of a pilot program, testing three versions of algebra instruction in 10 middle schools.
SFUSD has also begun testing a broader math curriculum for elementary and middle schools. The K-8 pilot program is part of a five-year plan to boost math scores, which plummeted during the pandemic as students did virtual school for a year or more. The district reported in March that its five-year plan is “partially off track” to meet the 2027 overall goal, which is to have 65 percent of 8th graders proficient in a standardized state test.
When asked for early data from the algebra pilot, SFUSD’s Kincade only sent a link to the March progress report. (There is no specific mention of algebra in the report.)
SFUSD is also in the middle of two other five-year academic plans. One is to boost 3rd grade literacy rates (in March it gave itself a “partially off track” assessment) with an updated reading curriculum. The other is to improve high schoolers’ college and career readiness. In February, the district said it was “off track” to meet its overall goal there, too.
Will the federal government pull funding and cause even more cuts?
About 5 percent of the district’s $1.3 billion budget comes from the federal government, Su said last month. That comes out to a larger figure than Su shared during a February board meeting, when she said SFUSD was bracing for the loss of “upwards of $50 million” that would “devastate” the district.
Su gave the 5 percent figure before three federal judges ruled that the Trump administration could not act upon its threat to withhold funds from schools for their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. “We’re not going to get distracted, which is exactly what the federal government wants us to do,” Su said at the time.
The district is letting the state lead the legal fight. The White House has also tried rescinding COVID-era grants but has been blocked in court. Its plan is to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, with deep funding cuts in its proposed budget.
Why is SFUSD installing a new payroll system this summer?
The EMPower system launched in 2018 notoriously made incorrect payments, left employees unpaid altogether, and messed up benefits. The district spent tens of millions of dollars on fixes, according to an SF Standard analysis in 2023, before deciding to pull the plug.
SFUSD is switching to a pair of new systems, Frontline and Red Rover, to administer business and human resources. Unlike the disastrous EMPower, Frontline is designed for and used by most California school districts. It is set to go live in July. SFUSD expects $29 million in HR operating costs from the start of the switch through next year, before dropping to $1.6 million in the 2026-2027 school year.
The switch is billed as a new era for the district, which has struggled to maintain and organize basic personnel information.
Are schools closing in the fall?
No. All current 122 SFUSD schools, which doesn’t include 11 charter schools, will be here when kids return in August. The push to close or merge about a dozen was shelved last October. But Superintendent Su has not ruled out closures down the road. And when The Frisc polled Board of Education candidates right after the end of the closure attempt, none of the candidates who were subsequently elected (or in Matt Alexander’s case, re-elected) ruled out future closures, either.
If and when SFUSD revisits the idea, it will have to take into account the school assignment system. Should it shutter schools before or after rolling out the new system? An SF Standard columnist wrote last fall that Su wanted a new assignment system first, then closures, but that was before the system was delayed again.
What about other longer-term issues?
As noted earlier, academic reforms continue into 2027. With major cuts coming to the central office, the school board wants Su to present a new organizational chart by August that lays out responsibilities for “major initiatives.”
By December, the superintendent must present a balanced budget and make sure the new personnel systems are working as intended. The district needs to convince regulators that it can handle its own operations and finances without the state’s oversight.
Editor in chief Alex Lash contributed to this report.