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Students, parents and educators urge board to spare arts, counseling and common planning time
Summary
Dozens of public commenters — students, parents, teachers and union officials — told the board proposed staffing reductions would harm arts, counseling and technical pathway programs and urged use of reserves and alternatives to layoffs.
Public comment at Tuesday's San Francisco Board of Education meeting centered on calls to protect common planning time, arts and music positions, counselors and paraeducator roles as the district develops its staffing plan.
Students from John O'Connell High School described pathway experiences in entrepreneurship, culinary arts and public service that they said depend on teacher common planning and sustained partnership time. "These pathways are like family," said Amberlynn Martinez, a senior in the entrepreneurship and culinary arts pathway, who described internships, capstone pop-ups and daily skills students gain.
Parents and teachers documented program impacts and warned that cuts are likely to be felt most by Black and Brown students and English-language learners. Roberto Guzman, a parent from Guadalupe Elementary, cited California School Dashboard figures showing performance gaps and said layoffs of instructional aides and language educators signal that community supports are "negotiable." Several speakers urged the board to use district reserves and pursue state-level funding changes rather than trimming classroom supports.
Union leaders framed the comments inside recent labor action: Frank Lara of United Educators of San Francisco described a multi-day strike with broad community turnout and urged the board to pursue a vision of expanding SFUSD rather than cutting programs. Tianna Tillery, UESF vice president for paraeducators, said workforce reductions "harm morale and drive talented educators out of our district" and urged the board to explore alternatives and phased adjustments.
Board response and limits of public comment: President Kim reminded speakers that board rules and California law prevent extended responses during public comment time; the superintendent said staff would follow up if appropriate. The public record included student delegates announcing a youth summit on April 10 and numerous parents asking the board to maintain a seven-period day to preserve electives and special-education supports.
What the public asked for: Repeated requests: (1) preserve teacher common planning time; (2) maintain arts and music FTEs; (3) protect counselors and paraeducators; and (4) pursue alternatives to layoffs including use of reserves, grant-writing and revenue strategies.
Next steps: Board members and staff acknowledged the public sentiment; staff said they would continue to refine position-control numbers and would present a multiyear fiscal plan on March 10 that may address the funding questions public speakers raised.
