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Students, parents urge board to reinstate Drew principal and reopen investigation
Summary
Dozens of students, parents and staff implored the San Francisco Board of Education to reopen the investigation into Charles Drew Elementary principal Dr. Franklin and to offer her formal due process; student speakers described improved test scores and school programs they said were at risk without her leadership.
Students and parents filled the public-comment period with pleas for the board to give Dr. Franklin due process and to reconsider her forced resignation. Speakers recounted specific programs at Charles Drew — a school garden, a behavioral reward "Drew store," and measurable reading gains — and urged the board not to remove a leader they credited with improving outcomes.
"Dr. Franklin should stay at Drew. We need her as our leader," student Charles Gardner told the board during the in-person comment block. Parents and staff followed with personal testimony: "The treatment of Dr. Franklin has been abusive, deceptive, and blatantly racist," said Nancy Parrot, a school psychologist at Charles Drew. Several commenters said Franklin resigned under duress and asked the board to "reopen the investigation" and provide a cure-and-correct demand so the process could be reviewed.
Speakers highlighted numbers and programs they attributed to Franklin's leadership: a public comment noted that 53% of a third-grade class was at or above grade level on Star Reading and that expanded school incentives and a garden program served Bayview families. Speakers also pushed the board to explain closed‑session handling of personnel allegations and whether district procedures complied with the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Board members did not respond during public comment, consistent with California rules governing the comment period. The superintendent later acknowledged the community's concerns and noted that staff will continue to engage with families as personnel and legal processes proceed.
