$100M Deficit In San Francisco Public Schools Budget

San Francisco CA

06 October, 2021

11:15 AM

Description

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The California Department of Public Education will step-in to help the San Francisco Unified School District balance its budget for the next fiscal year as it faces a projected $100 million deficit, Board of Education documents revealed on Tuesday. According to the agenda for the board's special meeting, the state's public education department has directed SFUSD to come up with a balancing plan for the 2022-2023 budget by December, as well as a balanced budget due by July 2022. Commissioners are set to discuss the item on Tuesday evening. According to the agenda, the district will adopt a "Zero-Based Budgeting process." "Budget reductions will scale back service enhancements, identify ways to configure the delivery of core and priority services more efficiently, and preserve high leverage and high impact investments," district officials said in the agenda. "By organizing the budget processes in this way, all effort will be made to minimize harm to students as a result of budget cuts." Following the revelation, the United Educators of San Francisco, the labor union that represents SFUSD teachers, said because of the impacts from school closures last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now isn't the time for budget cuts. "We are committed to ensuring that the needs of students and educators are met, and the most viable way to do that is through fully-funded community schools," UESF officials said. "The consequences of the pandemic means that public education is in a position where educator retention should be a high priority. Our families and students require higher levels of safety and educational support. We are seeing this commitment from districts around the state. SFUSD should have a laser-like focus on keeping cuts as far away from classrooms and school sites as possible." Union officials added, "We find it troubling that in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, for decades, management has suggested deficits and cuts that take away valuable resources from our students, classrooms and schools. We are calling on the city and state to work with us to ensure that our students receive more, not less." UESF officials represents over 6,500 SFUSD teachers and other staff. Copyright © 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.