Cleveland Elementary parents and students plead with SFUSD over possible teacher non‑renewals

Parents, students and staff from Cleveland Elementary told the board they were alarmed by notices that several teachers would not be returning next year and asked for transparency and reconsideration.

Multiple students addressed the board during public comment, describing distress at the prospect of losing teachers they called "favorite" and crediting specific teachers with academic gains. One student, Juan, said a third‑grade teacher "helped me with a lot of math" and that he would miss that teacher if he left. Cleveland parent Mehdi Mejia said families had not received clear reasons for the non‑renewals and asked whether district procedures had been followed.

David Aleman, introduced at the podium as a third‑grade bilingual teacher at Cleveland Elementary, said he had worked in the district since 2011, had a record of classroom gains and evaluations described as satisfactory, and said he had been informed he was the subject of 'non‑reelection' despite no prior disciplinary actions. "All my reviews have been fine... I'm just trying to understand why I am the subject of non‑reelection," Aleman told the board.

Board members said closed session would address personnel matters and the meeting moved into closed session after a period of public comment. The public comment transcripts indicate parents worried that staffing changes were connected to a recently assigned principal; the board later reported closed‑session votes that included approvals of some personnel actions and notices of non‑renewal for administrative contracts, but the transcript does not record an immediate reversal of the cited teacher non‑renewals.

Provenance: Public comment preceding closed session (SEG 3955–SEG 4246) and closed‑session readout (SEG 5792–SEG 5848).