SFUSD announces $2.7 million Salesforce donation to pilot tech, training in middle schools

Superintendent Carranza announced during the Oct. 8 San Francisco Board of Education meeting that Mark Benioff and the Salesforce.com Foundation have made a targeted private donation of $2,700,000 to the San Francisco Unified School District to pilot technology and teacher professional development in a select group of middle schools.

Carranza described the contribution as a phased partnership rather than a one-time equipment purchase. The initial investment includes two iPad tablet carts per selected site, teacher professional development for a small cadre of two to four teachers at each school, and an innovation fund for principals at the district’s 12 comprehensive middle schools. The district plans to measure impacts in the pilot cohort and, if the model succeeds, expand the program to more sites.

The superintendent asked staff to focus on “high quality teacher professional development” and to design supports so technology adoption translates to improved student learning. Carranza acknowledged that not every student will immediately benefit but said the goal is eventual districtwide rollout across 6–8 and preK–8 schools.

Parents and community members raised equity concerns during public comment later in the meeting. Several speakers, including a parent from a k–8 school, said embedded middle schools had not been included in the initial phase and asked the district to ensure the future roll-out includes k–8 and smaller school settings.

Carranza also reported other partnerships and programs in his superintendent’s remarks: more than 3,000 district middle school students attended the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival; the University of San Francisco is providing free space for special-education professional development; the district’s School Routes to School program will host Walk and Roll to School Day with 75 participating schools; and Target helped refurbish libraries at Hillcrest and Sanchez elementary schools.

The district did not provide a detailed budget for ongoing implementation costs at the meeting; board members and committee reports emphasized the need for a fiscal plan as the work moves from pilot to scale. Carranza said other local businesses had expressed interest in joining a second phase of the partnership.