Board holds emergency hearing on SFUSD special-education shortfall; city to deploy stabilization team and request independent assessment

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors convened a Committee of the Whole on Oct. 1 to examine unaccounted special-education funds and dozens of unfilled positions at San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), pressing district leaders for immediate fixes and an independent accounting of what went wrong.

Supervisor Ahsha Safaie opened the hearing, saying parents and teachers had contacted supervisors about “the impending school closures or potential school closures and the district's lack of transparency” and asking the city to help identify what happened and how to make students whole. “This is a very stressful time for parents, guardians, teachers, and CBO partners who provide services to our public school students,” Safaie said.

Board of Education President Matt Alexander and SFUSD Superintendent Wayne acknowledged a significant operational failure. Alexander said the district learned on Aug. 30 that budgeted special-education positions had not been set up as expected and that the board “thought these positions were included in that budget.” Superintendent Wayne called the staffing breakdown “completely unacceptable” and said the district has since approved additional funding and is recruiting to fill roles.

Officials gave several concrete numbers. SFUSD's special-education budget for 2024–25 was presented as roughly $224,000,000. At the hearing the superintendent described 516 certificated special-education classroom positions (64 vacant) and 1,312 classified special-education support positions (209 vacant), figures that include roughly 250 positions identified after the school year began and later added to the budget. The district said it ultimately increased the special-education allocation by $30 million after reviews with state fiscal advisers and that some of the additional funding is one-time, not ongoing.

City officials said the mayor formed a school stabilization team to provide operational support. Maria Su, director of the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF), explained that the mayor will make $8,400,000 available from unspent student-success funds and city grants to support technical assistance, recruiting, and other emergency needs for the district; $6,800,000 of that sum came from prior unspent DCYF grants and $1.6 million from other DCYF funds. Su said the dollars “will not reduce any grants that are allocated to our schools now.”

Members of the board repeatedly asked for clearer provenance and safeguards. Supervisor Connie Chan and others pressed the superintendent to explain how SELPA certification and the district's budget process had allowed legally required special-education positions to be removed or delayed after the Community Advisory Committee had certified the SELPA plan. Superintendent Wayne and others said the issue stemmed from flawed information systems and a budgeting reconciliation that did not happen in time; they told supervisors the district will work with the city's controller and an experienced retired county SELPA director to perform an independent assessment of systems and decisions.

Parents, advocates, and service providers filled the public-comment portion of the hearing, urging a broad, independent audit and quicker compensation for students who missed services. Multiple speakers urged that any outside review be inclusive of parents and alumni who have navigated the district's special-education system.

The board and presenters identified next steps: the mayor's stabilization team will work with SFUSD on immediate recruiting and onboarding (prioritizing paraeducator pipelines and faster payroll/hiring processes), the controller's office will conduct or coordinate an independent process review, and the district will provide more detailed follow-up information to supervisors about the number of students affected and the distribution of vacant positions. Supervisor Safaie said she intends to continue follow-up hearings and requested additional documentation on the SELPA certifications and the May budget decisions.

At the hearing's close, Supervisor Safaie moved to file the matter with the board to ensure additional oversight and follow-up; the motion was made and filed.

What happens next: presenters told the board they would provide more detailed counts of the specific classroom and caseload impacts and that an independent review by the controller's office would begin shortly to establish who knew what and when and to recommend procedural fixes. The district said it expects to present more detailed unaudited actuals and follow-up reporting in the coming weeks.

Quotes: “What happened with special education staffing this summer was completely unacceptable,” Superintendent Wayne said. “If any individual family is not getting their services, we have a process to address that,” he added. Supervisor Safaie said the hearing aims to “get a better understanding of what happened to get us here and more importantly what immediate actions are expected to see to remediate the situation.”

Authorities referenced: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (federal special-education obligations) and SFUSD SELPA certification process were discussed repeatedly during the hearing.

Ending: The board left the hearing filed for follow-up and asked the city controller and SFUSD to produce further documentation and a timeline of decisions so supervisors and the public can assess responsibility and remedial steps.