SFUSD task force recommends Welcoming Schools pilot, professional development and accountability steps

San Francisco Unified School District on Tuesday received a report from its Family Diversity Task Force that calls for a districtwide push to update and expand instruction about family diversity, gender roles and safe-schools practices.

Judy Appel, executive director of the Family Coalition and a task force member, told the board the group recommends piloting the Welcoming Schools curriculum in three elementary sites and requiring teachers to deliver at least two lessons annually across three topic areas: family diversity, gender roles and anti-bullying tied to sexual orientation and gender identity. "We really recognized the importance of increasing districtwide awareness of the family diversity issues and curriculum," Appel said.

The task force urged the district to adopt several accountability and implementation measures: add family diversity to the coordinated program monitoring (CPM) tool given to site administrators, create a senior staff liaison in the teaching-and-learning department to work with School Health Programs, establish an advisory committee to meet quarterly and report back to the board, and conduct a full evaluation after two years.

Kevin Gokin, a coordinator for LGBTQ youth support services who co-chairs some implementation work, explained that teachers at pilot sites will receive in-depth professional development and that vetted children’s literature and curriculum materials would be made available to other elementary schools. He said some duplication rights for curriculum materials have been negotiated so the district can adapt and distribute the resources.

Board members asked staff to clarify budget timing and whether any required personnel could be funded in the current fiscal year. Superintendent Garcia and staff said the current budget is already adopted and that ongoing personnel costs might need to be treated as a budget priority in the spring or funded with outside partnerships; the task force said the Welcoming Schools pieces could proceed without immediate fiscal impact while PD and a liaison post would require funding.

Parents and community members spoke in favor of the pilot. Michelle Menegas, a parent-advisory council member, said her school welcomed the pilot and praised the accountability work with site administrators. Appel told the board the task force will bring a language-ready resolution for board consideration in May and suggested a spring report back on the pilot’s progress.

Next steps: the board will route the recommendations through the curriculum committee for liaison oversight and staff will work with the superintendent’s office to identify funding priorities and a timeline for hiring or designating a liaison and scheduling professional development.