SFUSD weighs six student‑assignment models, asks board to set measures for evaluation

San Francisco Unified School District staff and outside researchers presented six candidate student‑assignment systems at an ad hoc Board committee meeting and asked the board to agree on measurable objectives to compare them. The presentation, led by SFUSD staffer Miss O'Keefe and Stanford researchers Muriel Niederle and Clayton Featherstone, outlined options ranging from local attendance‑area assignment with limited citywide choice to choice‑based systems tuned by two preference “dials” — local preference and academic preference.

Board members and researchers framed the redesign as one element of a broader strategy to make every school a “quality school,” noting that assignment policy alone cannot close achievement gaps. Staff proposed three priorities for judging options: equitable access to district opportunities, reducing racial isolation and concentrations of underserved students, and transparency in the assignment process. To operationalize those priorities, staff proposed measures including the number of ethnically isolated schools…