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Board approves transitional kindergarten policy but agrees to study paraprofessional staffing
Summary
The board approved board policy 6170.1 on transitional kindergarten on June 11, 2019. Public commenters and several commissioners pressed for full‑year paraprofessional support in TK classrooms; staff said staffing ratios are not set by the policy and will be analyzed for feasibility and cost.
The San Francisco Board of Education voted June 11 to approve a board policy on transitional kindergarten (board policy 6170.1) while stopping short of adopting a mandated paraprofessional staffing ratio.
Teachers and parents urged the board to attach full‑year paraprofessional support to every TK classroom. "The ratio of 1 adult to 22 students is not only challenging, but unsafe," said Laurie Baker Flynn, a TK teacher, who urged the board to "put paraprofessionals in each of the TK classrooms."
Board members including Commissioners Collins and Lopez said they shared the concern about safety and developmental needs for four‑year‑olds and pressed staff for cost estimates and negotiation implications. District staff told the board the policy itself does not set staffing ratios and that the committee had intended to study staffing next year and work with labor partners. The superintendent's team agreed to return with a fiscal analysis and a feasibility assessment; the board discussed closed‑session negotiation issues for any unilateral staffing decisions.
Despite calls for immediate action, the board approved the TK policy as noticed, with commissioners voting via roll call. Commissioners and speakers said they want a separate, expedited analysis to consider funding paraprofessionals for TK classrooms in time for the next school year.
The action approved the board policy language but left staffing questions for a follow‑up budget and bargaining discussion.
