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Parents, teachers and students urge board to rescind James Lick Middle School budget cuts
Summary
Multiple James Lick Middle School students, parents and staff told the board proposed central allocations would force elimination of three full‑time teaching positions and damage the Spanish immersion program, asking the board to rescind the submitted budget for site redesign with community input.
Students, parents and teachers from James Lick Middle School delivered a steady stream of public comment asking the board to rescind a budget the site administrator submitted without site‑level consensus.
Natalia Casado Marshall, student council president at James Lick, said the proposed cuts would reduce materials and class offerings: "Students need an education, fair class sizes, new updated textbooks," she told the board. Several parents and the PTSA president said the school learned late that three full‑time teacher positions would be cut next year because of district allocations adjusted for a teacher‑salary increase.
Parent and attorney Emma Lehi Casada said two of the three positions at risk are in the Spanish immersion program and warned that proposed cuts would threaten the core reason many families choose James Lick. Teachers described larger class sizes and fewer specialist positions: "My first core I have 21 students; my second core I have 28 students," said Charnell Ruff, a sixth‑grade teacher, who urged the board to reinstate site funding.
United Educators of San Francisco emphasized a contractual right to budget information sharing and called on the district to provide full data to the Union Building Committee and School Site Council. The board did not enact an immediate budget reversal at the meeting; community members asked staff to revisit allocations and to increase transparency and stakeholder engagement.
The public testimony highlighted tensions between central allocations and site priorities for 'pitch' schools (underperforming sites receiving targeted interventions). Parents asked the board for a formal reconsideration so stakeholders at James Lick can propose alternative allocations.
