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Parents, teachers and students press board on placements, Willie Brown closure, arts cuts and layoffs
Summary
More than two dozen public commenters urged the board to stop layoffs, reconsider program cuts to arts and after-school services, address placement lottery problems (siblings/twins separated), and investigate the administrative leave of a Bayview parent liaison tied to Willie Brown Academy closure.
During an extended public-comment period the board heard sustained testimony from students, parents, teachers and community leaders about multiple district challenges: layoffs and program cuts, the student assignment lottery and feeder-pattern proposals, community impacts from Willie Brown Academy’s closure, and the administrative leave of parent liaison Fred Franklin.
Speakers described emotional and practical harms from proposed or implemented cuts. Wallenberg students and teachers testified in defense of art teacher Emily Van Dyke and the STAR Visual Art program; itinerant art teachers said the STAR program serves underperforming elementary schools and reaches thousands of students weekly. One STAR teacher said the program "serves 3,000 students a week" across 18 schools and urged the board to preserve arts funding.
Bayview speakers repeatedly asked the board to investigate the immediate administrative leave of Fred Franklin and to reconsider the closure/restructuring of Willie Brown Academy, saying the action damaged community trust and student morale. Multiple parents and community advocates asked for transparency in principal selection processes and for the board to ensure appointment panels are respected.
Parents and guardians raised multiple operational concerns with the new placement/lottery system: siblings and twins separated into different schools, a lack of clear appeals or supports, and transportation challenges for families told their children must travel far from neighborhoods. A representative of the Parent Advisory Council and Parents for Public Schools testified the PAC opposed deploying feeder patterns district-wide before staff provided detailed operational plans for schedules, inclusion services, transportation, and financing.
Teachers and school staff reported repeated layoff notices and uncertainty about rehire prospects, urging either rescission of layoffs or clearer communications tying possible rescinds to pending city or state resources. Union representatives and UESF speakers asked for transparency about discretionary and SIG fund uses and for a district table showing principal discretionary balances.
Board president and staff responded by directing parents to staff contacts for case follow-up and by promising memos or committee referrals on specific operational questions (twins separation, discretionary-fund tables). Several commissioners agreed to follow up directly with staff.
