San Francisco’s school district is set to conclude its fiscal year with a balanced budget, as presented by Superintendent Maria Su.
After months of navigating difficult financial circumstances, including potential state takeover, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has succeeded in eliminating a $113 million deficit while avoiding teacher layoffs.
The budget plan unveiled reflects a shift towards strategic spending, focusing resources more directly on school campuses.
Su emphasized that tough decisions were made to support the budget and maintain local control, stating, “We have made a lot of really, really tough decisions and all of those necessary cuts that need to be made to support our budget and, of course, to maintain local control.”
Three primary objectives will guide the district’s financial focus: enhancing student learning, fostering supported and robust schools, and ensuring effective governance.
“We have worked really hard to strategically invest in what we know our students need the most,” Su pointed out.
A significant aspect of the budget cuts will affect staffing levels.
Nearly 400 positions will be cut across various school sites and the central office, with an additional 345 roles becoming vacant due to retirements prompted by a voluntary buyout earlier in the year.
Out of these eliminated roles, 315 will be replaced by less expensive and less experienced personnel.
District documents outline that around 180 positions eliminated are directly associated with school campuses, although the specific roles impacted have not been detailed publicly.
Frank Lara, vice president of the SFUSD teachers union, noted that many cuts involve “special assignment” roles that provided experienced teachers opportunities to focus on English language learning, reforms in teaching and curriculum, or reducing class sizes.
Despite these cuts, the district assures that each school will still be staffed with a principal, clerk, and classroom teachers for every grade, but specialized roles, including assistant principals and higher-than-necessary levels of paraeducators, counselors, and social workers, are not guaranteed.
Lara cautioned that the absence of these positions might disrupt how schools serve their students, with the true impact becoming clearer only in the upcoming school year.
In response to these challenges, Superintendent Su expressed a commitment to maintaining student access to enrichment courses, particularly in the arts, physical education, and language immersion, as well as improving food options.
However, the reductions in budgetary allocations will be more noticeable within the central office, where around 190 positions are being eliminated.
This reduction is anticipated to increase wait times for technology support and restrict the office’s capacity to prioritize communications and digital resources aligned with the curriculum.
The central office’s budget will reduce considerably, now representing about 16% of the total budget, a notable drop from 25% five years ago and lower than peer districts throughout the state.
Board member Matt Alexander acknowledged this decrease, commenting on the district’s commitment to students and families.
Union leaders have consistently advocated for reallocating resources away from administrative positions to better support school sites.
While Lara acknowledged the cuts made at the central office as a positive move, he indicated that the union would continue to monitor how these positions might be reintroduced in the future.
Looking ahead, Superintendent Su indicated that additional reductions will be required, especially following a recent fiscal update showing the district will receive approximately $8 million less in state and attendance-related funding than initially projected.
The district is actively working to reduce its deficit spending, which has declined from over $90 million to $47 million this year.
Yet forecasts indicate ongoing deficit spending of similar amounts, prompting the need for further measures aimed at establishing long-term financial stability.
Su noted that future discussions could involve considering school closures or investing in enhancements to transitional kindergarten and special education services, along with making further program reductions.
A more detailed account of next year’s budget outlook is expected when the district presents its fiscal stabilization plan for the 2026-2027 school year next week.
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