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Board approves one-year lease to Envision/Metro for Newcomer site over neighborhood objections
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Education voted to authorize a one-year lease to Envision Schools to house Metro High at the former Newcomer site at 2430 Jackson Street, despite sustained neighborhood opposition centered on traffic, parking and the expected inflow of out-of-city students. The lease passed after extended public comment and debate.
The San Francisco Board of Education on June 18 approved a one-year lease allowing Envision Schools’ Metro High to use the former Newcomer High School site at 2430 Jackson Street for the 2007–08 school year, after lengthy public comment from neighborhood residents and elected officials who said the move would worsen parking and traffic and prioritize non‑San Francisco students.
Supervisor Michaela Alioto‑Pierre’s legislative aide, Catherine Stephanie, told the board the supervisor “wants to state her strong objection to the use of Newcomer by Metro due to the fact that it will negatively impact the already saturated parking and traffic in the area,” and raised concerns that a substantial number of students would commute from Marin. Pacific Heights residents and immediate neighbors said they learned of the plan only recently and urged the district to prioritize San Francisco students for district facilities.
Envision Schools’ chief operating officer, Chris Pelgrift, said the number of families seeking placements emerged very quickly after the recent closure of a Marin site and that the scale of interest surprised both Envision and district staff: “This has all happened in a very, very compressed time frame,” he said, adding that Envision would work with the district and neighborhood on traffic plans and routing. Envision representatives told the board most students would arrive by charter bus rather than driving, and offered to identify off‑site staging for buses to reduce curbside disruption.
Board members debated two central tensions: the district’s limited authority under California charter law to restrict charter enrollment and the neighborhood’s request for additional community input and a city‑attorney opinion. Several commissioners said they were troubled by the late notice to neighbors and by public confusion about how many nonresident students might enroll. Others said the district must balance facility use and revenue needs and noted the lease was for a single year, with an explicit commitment to community outreach during that term.
After discussion the board added clarifying lease language addressing Prop 39 and asked staff to add a limit on the number of out‑of‑district students to be stated in the lease. The board then voted to approve the lease. Four commissioners voted to approve the agreement; three opposed it and two abstained; the motion carried.
The board’s action allows Metro High to operate at the Jackson Street site for the coming school year while district staff, Envision and neighborhood representatives work on traffic mitigation, student transportation plans and community outreach. Several commissioners said they expect additional information and possibly further board review if the enrollment pattern changes substantially.
What’s next: The lease is for one year; staff and Envision said they will pursue a schedule of community meetings and finalize bus staging and drop‑off plans before classes begin.
