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SFUSD narrowly approves Warriors' court partnership, limits waiver of commercial-free policy
Summary
The board approved a limited waiver of the district's Commercial-Free Schools Act to permit the Golden State Warriors' logo on Willie L. Brown Junior Middle School's center-court paving and a retaining wall, but removed backboards from the waiver and limited the exemption to this single action. The amendment and final resolution passed 6-0.
The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday approved a limited waiver to its long-standing Commercial-Free Schools policy to permit donor recognition tied to a Golden State Warriors partnership at Willie L. Brown Junior Middle School.
Chief Facilities Officer David Gold described a donor-supported court resurfacing and partnership that includes facility improvements, ongoing programming and the installation of a Warriors graphic on the center-court paving, a nearby retaining wall and originally proposed backboard decals. The board debated whether that proposal would violate the district's 1999 anti-commercialization resolution (referred to in the meeting as resolution 95-25 a6) and whether the district should adopt a donor-recognition policy to guide future exceptions.
Commissioner Winns and others urged caution, saying the board needs criteria to prevent a slippery slope of commercialization. Commissioner Wynne (recorded in discussion) said she's willing to allow donor recognition in a modest way but asked for a rules-committee review to develop clearer guidelines. Several commissioners, including Vice President Walton, emphasized the Warriors' existing community engagement and the benefit for students in the Bayview, while expressing concern about avoiding a blanket or unlimited waiver.
An amendment struck the words "exterior basketball court backboards" from the requested action and added language limiting the waiver to "this single action at Willie L. Brown Junior Middle School." That amendment passed on a roll-call vote and the resolution as amended carried 6-0.
The superintendent and staff said the waiver in this case is narrowly tailored and would not be an open-ended exemption for Willie Brown. Staff also said decals (for backboards) could be applied later, but the board's final action intentionally excluded that element pending further rules-committee work on donor recognition and commercial-free policy guidance.
What happens next: The district will proceed with the court resurfacing and center-court logo as approved; board members asked staff and legal counsel to bring a donor-recognition policy and clearer guidance to the Rules Committee for future cases.
