Board authorizes planning year for Gateway Middle School after divided debate

San Francisco — After extensive public testimony from Gateway High School students, parents and community partners, the San Francisco Board of Education authorized a planning year for Gateway Middle School on April 13, advancing a charter petition that staff said met educational and capacity criteria.

Mary Richards, the district’s Executive Director of Charter Schools, read the superintendent’s recommendation and the amended resolution into the record (Resolution Number 100-3-9 SP1), saying staff found the petition “strong” and that the petitioner met areas of compliance including program soundness and implementation capacity. The resolution as read notes that if approved, Gateway Middle School would negotiate an annual memorandum of understanding with the district and abide by applicable laws before commencing operations.

Gateway principal Sharon Wilkin told the board the petition seeks to extend Gateway’s model — smaller classes, an advisory structure and a learning center — to younger students. "We believe that students in San Francisco deserve something that we can provide, which is an education that will prepare them for college," she said in response to board questions about timing and fiscal prudence.

Students and alumni spoke in favor: one student said Gateway “made me feel safe to be myself,” and another told commissioners, "Gateway has been the best of the five schools I've attended," arguing that opening at the middle‑school level would give earlier access to the school's support structures.

Board members debated whether approving a new charter at a time of district fiscal stress was appropriate. Commissioner Winns described the timing as “absolutely the wrong time” and said she was “unable to support it” because of concerns about competition and district capacity. Other commissioners, including Mendoza and Norton, cited Gateway’s track record and the district’s well‑documented middle‑school challenges when explaining their support.

The roll call is recorded in the public transcript as producing four ayes; the resolution language authorizes a planning year so Gateway could access planning grants and prepare to open a middle school in the 2011–2012 school year if all conditions are met.

Next steps: the resolution authorizes a year of planning, during which the petitioner will recruit students and staff, secure facility arrangements and negotiate an MOU with the district prior to any opening. The district indicated gateway proponents would have roughly 18 months of planning time prior to a proposed September 2011 opening.