Parents, students and staff implore SFUSD to rescind paraeducator layoffs; Lowell journalists call for adviser reinstatement

The public comment period at the May 13 SFUSD board meeting featured sustained appeals from students, parents, paraeducators and union leaders asking the board to rescind layoffs that they said would strip schools of translators, attendance aides and LGBTQ supports.

Multiple speakers named specific staff members and roles they said are essential. Anna Chan, a third-grade teacher at Visitation Valley Elementary School, told the board that a particular paraeducator known as "Mr. R" is indispensable: "Mr. R helps with attendance... he makes connections with families... I had a kid who was having a difficult day... he got Mr. R and 15 minutes with him, and she came back ready to learn," Chan said.

Kenna Hazelwood, the district's LGBTQ student services coordinator, testified that the role is effectively synonymous with the program. "My job is synonymous with LGBTQ student services... If you cut this program in this moment where LGBTQ identities are under attack it is basically asking our most marginalized and vulnerable communities to be betrayed by the school system," Hazelwood said.

Tiann Tillery, vice president of United Educators of San Francisco and a paraeducator, described the emotional toll of preliminary layoff notices on staff and families and urged the board to rescind all paraeducator layoffs. "We are the steady hands guiding students through challenges... We knock on doors, and we hold space for every single child," Tillery said. The union representatives emphasized that many of the affected positions are site-funded and that schools had already earmarked funds to keep the roles.

Lowell High students and alumni also addressed the board about their student publication's adviser. Thomas Harrison, a Lowell alumnus, read a petition signed by more than 60 alumni calling on the district to stop actions they described as infringing student press rights and to reinstate the Lowell advisor after an administrative reassignment. Current Lowell student journalists also testified that losing their adviser would undermine their ability to operate and develop as reporters.

Speakers provided petitions and counts during public comment: one speaker said a petition at Star King had 173 signatures out of about 200 families; another noted a Lowell alumni petition with dozens of names and a separate student petition with hundreds of signatures supporting the adviser. Several speakers called for more transparent communications around the timeline for rescinding layoff notices and for quicker CDE confirmation of funded positions.

District staff repeatedly answered that they are working with CDE fiscal advisers to verify funding and position-control numbers and that rescissions must be done in seniority order when approvals are complete. "As soon as positions are approved, we will be rescinding those layoffs," Associate Superintendent Amy Bair told the board.

What happens next: The board authorized final layoff notices for the small set of employees who did not sign settlement agreements; the district said it will rescind notices as approvals are confirmed. Community speakers asked the board to accelerate that process and to prioritize on-the-ground supports that they say keep students safe and in class.

All quoted comments in this article are drawn verbatim from the meeting transcript and attributed to the speakers who made them.