SFUSD approves tentative safety agreement and timetable for phased elementary return; teachers warn schedule risks

The San Francisco Board of Education ratified a tentative health-and-safety agreement with its labor partners and heard extensive public testimony on the district's phased plan to return students to campus.

Superintendent Matthews told the board the district is "working hard to get our teachers and staff vaccinated" and has been able to offer vaccination opportunities at a district site at 555 Franklin, as staff scrambled to secure appointment codes and pop-up clinics. Staff said the district aims to open an assessment center March 15 and begin staggered elementary returns on April 12, with subsequent waves dependent on public-health indicators, inspections and staffing.

The MOU outlines required steps before reopening in higher-risk tiers, accommodations for staff at greater medical risk, a two-week notice to employees before a school's hybrid start date and four teacher workdays to prepare classrooms. It also sets distancing expectations — six feet when possible, with a minimum of four feet in some classrooms when necessary — and a testing cadence tied to county tiers.

Teachers who called the meeting’s public-comment period described the proposed instructional schedules as unworkable. "I will be teaching for more hours than I ever have, but providing the worst quality education that I ever have," said Emma, a first-grade teacher, who warned the plan would not allow the small-group instruction young readers need. Multiple special-education staff said the schedules provide insufficient time for IEP work, collaboration and planning.

Union leaders and the district said the schedule in the MOU reflects a compromise reached in bargaining: many educators argued to remain with their existing student rosters rather than be designated solely as in-person or virtual teachers. "Teachers wanted to remain with their current students, and that interest shaped the schedules before you," a district negotiator told commissioners.

Staff also briefed the board on testing and vaccine logistics. An intent to award for the testing RFP was sent March 1; staff hoped to offer employee testing the week of March 22 and student testing the week of March 29. District staff said they had distributed 4,000 MyTurn codes and that Walgreens had committed 1,500 Johnson & Johnson doses for staff appointments at 555 Franklin.

Board members pressed staff on site readiness, DPH inspections, ventilation plans and how many students the district expects to return. Chief facilities staff said the district is preparing to perform roughly 50 site moves and stand-ups in the coming weeks and will pause over spring break to assess equipment and ventilation needs. Staff reported plans to buy hundreds of portable air cleaners and fans for classrooms that do not meet window-ventilation thresholds.

The board voted unanimously to ratify the MOU and to submit a second-interim fiscal report to the state with a qualified certification, citing a projected multiyear deficit in FY2022-23 even as staff said current-year cash is sufficient to support reopening steps. Staff said federal and state one-time learning-recovery funds will be directed toward catching up students in 2021-22.

Next steps: the district is collecting family survey responses about return preferences (district staff asked for rapid community responses by mid-March), finalizing testing contracts and continuing negotiations on secondary schedules and services. The board requested follow-ups on ventilation, transportation logistics and supports for teachers and students remaining in distance learning.