Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SOTA students and parents demand separate creative-writing director after administrative consolidation
Summary
Students and parents at the School of the Arts (SOTA) told the Board of Education the school’s decision to combine the creative writing and spoken arts director roles will stretch one teacher across both programs, undermining instruction and equity; speakers called the hiring process opaque and urged the district to fill a full-time creative writing director with benefits.
Students and families of the School of the Arts (SOTA) pressed the San Francisco Unified School District board on a hiring decision they said will weaken a 20-year program. Multiple students said the district consolidated the creative writing director role into the spoken arts director position, creating one teacher’s responsibility for roughly 50–60 students.
"Not being able to have one teacher focusing on us at a time is not only unfair to us," said Julia, a rising SOTA freshman, describing how the merge would limit the department’s instructional depth. Senior Starly Tagati said the hiring process had been "inequitable, disorganized, and not transparent," and said the move forces one teacher to cover two distinct curricula.
Parents amplified the students’ concerns. Jennifer Lynch said SOTA’s longtime director had built the program over two decades and warned the consolidated role will not preserve that program’s rigor. NATO Green, a parent, told the board the advertised job offer lacked basic compensation: "the job that was offered was $28,000 a year with no benefits," and she said that pay would make recruiting qualified teachers unsustainable.
Superintendent Wayne and staff did not dispute that families had been kept waiting for clarity. Superintendent Wayne said staff would follow up and offered school staff the opportunity to meet with families in the lobby after public comment. Several board members asked staff to confirm whether a replacement had been hired; the superintendent indicated staff were familiar with the issue and would provide clarifying follow-up outside the meeting.
Why it matters: SOTA is an arts magnet program whose students and families contend the creative writing and spoken arts disciplines require separate instructional leadership. Parents warned that a part-time or underpaid director risks eroding a program that has produced professional writers and that the district’s staffing decision could have consequences for students’ curricular experiences.
What’s next: Board members encouraged staff to meet with families and promised additional follow-up. During public comment staff indicated they would meet with families in the lobby and that the district would provide updates by email and on its website.
Quotation highlights: "This action places around 60 students under the teaching of one teacher," Starly Tagati said. "We ask that you consider the hiring process and set us up for success…with full-time instructors for our departments," Chloe Schonfeld said.
Ending: The board closed in-person public comment and invited affected families to meet with district staff in the lobby; board members directed staff to follow up with details and next steps.
