SFUSD board adopts third interim report and authorizes final layoff notices amid community pleas to rescind

The San Francisco Unified School District board on May 13 adopted its third interim financial report and authorized final layoff notices for a limited number of counselors and paraeducators, while district and state advisors urged continued work to stabilize finances and clarify which positions can be rehired.

Superintendent Dr. Hsu introduced the district's third interim as a year-end snapshot and a multiyear forecast that incorporates a fiscal stabilization plan of roughly $113.8 million in reductions being folded into next year's proposed budget. "This report is an opportunity for us to bring greater awareness about the needs and experiences of our students in foster care," Dr. Hsu said in a different agenda item, underscoring the district's attempt to keep student supports visible while tightening spending.

Finance staff told the board the third interim shows modest improvement in some local revenue lines but that multiyear projections still include deficit spending without reductions. Anne Marie Gordon, the district's interim chief financial officer, said the updated forecast includes an increase in local revenues such as leases and interest and adjustments to routine maintenance budgeting. She noted the district is using a portion of other general-use funds to support special education this year and plans to increase that subsidy next year.

Board members pressed staff for clarity about when the state's fiscal advisers would approve positions that district leaders say are funded. "At what point do we see red?" asked a commissioner, seeking a plain-language threshold for a positive fiscal certification. Finance staff and the district's CDE fiscal advisers, including fiscal advisor Elliot Duchamp, repeatedly said certification is a holistic judgment that goes beyond a single line item and includes systems stability, position-control and audit findings.

Duchamp told the board that the district has made measurable progress but that several non-budget systems (such as staff and ERP stability) remain part of the state's evaluation. "You have received multiple correspondence from the state, from your auditor, from FCMAT. Those goalposts have not moved," Duchamp said, adding that resolving those structural issues is part of achieving sustained fiscal solvency.

On personnel, the board authorized final layoff notices for three counselors and 23 paraeducators who did not sign a layoff-settlement agreement. District staff said the bulk of layoffs were resolved earlier by agreement and by the district's supplemental early retirement program, which reduced the number of notices required. "As soon as positions are approved, we will be rescinding those layoffs, and we will do any rescinding in seniority order," Associate Superintendent Amy Bair told the board.

Multiple commissioners and the superintendent said many positions are already budgeted; staff answered that some LCFF-funded positions likely will await CDE approval in June before formal rescissions and new hiring take place. Several board members urged staff and the state advisers to speed approvals where funding and position-control numbers have already been provided to advisers.

The votes on the budget and on layoff-authorizing items were roll-call votes recorded as 7 ayes for the measures on the agenda. The board also approved several other items by unanimous vote, including appointing a member to the Independent Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.

What happens next: the board will consider the proposed 2025-26 budget in June with the fiscal-stabilization cuts folded in and expects further updates on state-level funding decisions in the governor's May revision. District staff said they will continue reconciling position-control data and work with CDE advisers to rescind layoff notices as soon as approvals are in place.

Quote-attributions in this report map to speakers and roles recorded in the meeting transcript, including Dr. Hsu (superintendent), Anne Marie Gordon (interim CFO), Amy Bair (associate superintendent) and Elliot Duchamp (CDE fiscal adviser).