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Students, parents and staff urge board to halt planned closure of Academy at McAteer
Summary
Students, parents, teachers and community groups urged the San Francisco Board of Education to stop a planned closure and merger that would move Academy at McAteer students into a much larger school, saying the small-school environment supports vulnerable students and raising equity and special-education concerns.
Students and community members told the San Francisco Board of Education they felt blindsided and dismissed after learning the district plans to close the Academy at McAteer next year and merge students into Wallenberg High School.
"The academy is not a school, it's a family," said Dolly, a junior at Academy High School, who told the board the district's case for closing the site is based on outdated data. Jaden, the academy student body president, said his grades and mental health improved after returning to Academy because teachers there ‘‘see their students in a way I've never experienced at any other school.''
Multiple speakers said the small-school model provides critical supports for students with disabilities and for LGBTQ youth. Finnegan Kelly, a sophomore who identified themself as trans, said moving to a much larger school increases the risk of bullying and discrimination and would likely force them and others to leave SFUSD altogether.
Several parents and staff said the district capped Academy enrollment and limited outreach to families, then used the resulting numbers to justify the closure. "What you're doing by closing the school is taking all the things on this campus away from less privileged students and giving it to a school not only with a higher percentage of white students," said Alex Perez Waters, an Academy student, referencing the McAteer campus' programs.
Union and community representatives backed the students' testimony. Brandy Markman, of the San Francisco Education Alliance, said the district should adopt a policy opposing school closures and called for greater transparency and outreach to impacted communities.
President Kim thanked the students and said the superintendent and staff will follow up with information; the meeting record shows the board also described a governance model aimed at focusing meeting time on student outcomes and publishing a Q&A for commissioners in advance. The board did not take immediate action on the Academy closure during the session; commissioners said they will continue public conversations and that staff will bring materials aligned with the district's governance framework.
Next steps: students and families asked the board to pause the closure process, provide clear data supporting the district's decision, and convene more thorough community engagement before any final action.
