San Francisco school board approves preliminary layoff notices after months of community pushback

The San Francisco Board of Education on Tuesday approved resolutions authorizing staff to issue preliminary layoff notices for a limited set of certificated and classified positions, drawing sustained public comment urging the board to preserve arts, counseling and teacher planning time.

The board approved the certificated reduction resolution (H1) on a 6-1 roll call vote and the classified reduction resolution (H2) on a 6-1 roll call vote. President Kim said the actions would allow the district to meet statutory deadlines while staff refines position-control data and explores alternatives. The votes authorize staff to begin the legally required process of issuing preliminary notices under Education Code timelines; they do not by themselves terminate employment.

Why the board voted: District staff told the board that preliminary notices are needed to align staffing with projected enrollment and programmatic changes. Deputy Superintendent of Business Services and HR staff said the district's PKS (particular kinds of service) list for this year contains 42 full-time-equivalent positions: 10 certificated (listed as two art, two music and six head-counselor credential reductions) and 32 classified paraeducator positions. Staff emphasized those numbers are substantially lower than last year's preliminary notices because of improved position control and strategic temporary hires.

What staff and the board said about process: HR staff explained the March 15 statutory deadline for preliminary notices and that notices will be issued by seniority within credential or job classification. They described skipping and tiebreaker rules negotiated with labor partners (for example, bilingual credentials, special-education assignments, TK authorization and multiple credentials can be used to skip a candidate on the seniority list). Staff also said notices can be rescinded quickly if resignations, retirements or funding changes occur before final notice deadlines in May.

Community reaction at the meeting: Dozens of parents, students, teachers and union representatives urged the board not to approve cuts. Amberlynn Martinez, a senior at John O'Connell High School, told the board the district's career-technical pathways "are like family" and said teachers need common planning time to sustain internships and pop-up restaurants that provide hands-on learning. Tianna Tillery, vice president for paraeducators at United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), warned that workforce reductions "harm morale and drive talented educators out of our district" and urged the board to explore alternatives.

UESF and strike context: Frank Lara, UESF's executive vice president, framed the public comments in the context of a recent strike, saying educators showed broad support and that the union has a vision to expand SFUSD rather than deepen cuts. Superintendent Hsu noted the district had reached a tentative two-year agreement with UESF and said staff would present a multiyear fiscal stability plan at the March 10 board meeting.

Next steps: Staff will issue preliminary notices in accordance with statutory deadlines; HR will process resignations and retirements, apply skipping/tiebreaker criteria, and reconvene with labor partners as required by law. Final layoff notices would require separate board action by May 15 if reductions are not rescinded by attrition or funding changes. The board's actions authorize the procedural steps required by state law but do not by themselves remove any individual employee from district employment.