Committee forwards ordinance protecting families and school workers from no-fault evictions during school year

The Land Use and Transportation Committee voted to forward to the full Board an ordinance authored by Supervisor David Campos that would expand protections against no-fault evictions during the school year to include all no-fault evictions affecting families with children and to extend the protection to a broad set of school workers.

Campos told the committee the measure does two things: it extends an existing prohibition (previously focused on owner-move‑in evictions for families with children) to cover all no‑fault evictions during the school year — such as condo conversions, removal of a rental unit, capital improvement or substantial rehabilitation — and it adds educators to the protected class. Campos defined "educators" to include classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, counselors, social workers, security guards, attendance liaisons, cafeteria workers, janitors and school nurses as well as staff in preschools and home daycares.

"This ordinance will help mitigate the impact of displacement on educators and families," Campos said, noting the city faces an affordability crisis that affects classroom continuity.

Campos cited data he said the San Francisco Rent Board provided: 2,120 eviction notices filed between March 2014 and March 2015, a 55 percent increase compared with the five-year period before that; and 438 recorded no-fault evictions in that year, though advocates contend the true number may be higher. He also cited compensation figures for school workers to illustrate the pressure: a starting salary for a fully credentialed teacher "less than $3,400 a month," a median one‑bedroom rent of about $3,620, and an average paraprofessional salary of roughly $2,083 a month.

Public testimony strongly supported the ordinance. Bill Angiretto, director of Pacific Primary, described recruitment struggles for teachers and said some educators who once lived in the city were forced to commute long distances or were in danger of homelessness. "This teacher crisis is the worst crisis I have ever seen in the city," Angiretto said. Myrna Melgar of Jamestown Community Center and Josh Davidson, a chapter leader representing classified school staff, also urged passage, stressing effects on student continuity and school operations. Jennifer Feber of the San Francisco Tenants Union called the measure a meaningful step, while Matt Haney, president of the Board of Education, said the ordinance helps prevent educators from losing their homes mid‑school‑year and noted the school board would consider a supporting resolution the next day.

Supervisor Weiner moved to forward the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation. Chair (identified in the meeting as Malia Cohen) stated, "without objection, that motion passes unanimously." The transcript does not contain a roll-call vote or individual vote tallies.