Upcoming Board of Education Meetings

SFUSD Board of Education meets almost every evening this week (no Friday)! Here is the rundown. Monday: Rules, Policy and Legislation Committee; Tuesday: Committee of the Whole (topic: arts center); Wednesday: Budget and Business Services Committee; Thursday: Student Assignment Committee. 

Augmented Rules, Policy and Legislation Committee: Monday February 5 @ 6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• Discussion of possible SFUSD's positions on proposed legislation (could be local, state or federal).
   
• Discussion of a proposed board policy on athletic competition. Full text here. Includes:
  • Provision ensuring that equivalent athletic opportunities are provided for males and females, and that students are permitted to participate in athletic activities consistent with their gender identity. 

  • Statement that students will not be charged a fee to participate in an athletic program -includes fees for uniforms, locks, lockers, athletic equipment etc. 

  • Requirement of parent/guardian notification whenever an injury is suffered by a student - date, time, and extent of any injury suffered.

• Discussion of proposed board policy on use of school facilities. Full text here.
  • This policy codifies the types of events and groups that can use school facilities and the fee structure for such use.

Committee of the Whole meeting: Tuesday, February 6 @ 6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topic to be discussed: update on the arts center proposed to be build at 135 Van Ness.

• The arts center would house Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in addition to supports for arts education district-wide.

• Slides from Committee of the Whole meeting on this topic last April are here.

Budget and Business Services Committee: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 @ 6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• 2016-17 financial audit
• Update on 2018-19 budget and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) development, including Weighted Student Formula (WSF), and Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) allocations and central office reductions and tradeoffs.
  • Follow up on last month's budget committee: based on projections, there will need to be some cuts/tradeoffs made in the next budget year. 
• Schedule of comparison of teacher salaries
• Lease and permit revenues: How much money comes in to SFUSD from leasing properties and charging fees for use of rooms/facilities?

Ad Hoc Committee on Student Assignment: Thursday, February 8 @ 6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• Presentation on demographic analysis and enrollment projections
• Presentation on five proposed changes to the student assignment system for  2019-20 (additional information will be presented on ideas presented at an earlier meeting of this committee). The proposals are: 
  • An admissions preference at Lowell HS and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts for students attending Willie Brown MS. Currently, students who attend three years at Willie Brown MS receive an enrollment "tiebreaker" for other SFUSD high schools.
  • A middle school admissions preference for students attending elementary schools in the Bayview.
  • Some type of admissions preference for children of SFUSD teachers/staff.
  • Elimination of the transfer mechanism in the assignment process (aka "swapping")
  • Changes to the CTIP 1 (San Francisco census tracts with lowest average scores on state tests - students living in these census tracts currently receive an admissions preference)
• Presentation on the status of SFUSD's transportation plan.
• Discussion of broader changes to the SFUSD assignment system (would likely not impact the next enrollment cycle)

Public Comment

There is always an opportunity for public comment at school board meetings.

At regular meetings, speakers may speak to any item being voted on or may give general public comment during the time reserved for "Public Comment on General Matters." Speakers must sign up in advance, either by calling the board office at (415) 241-6493 or filling out a speaker card at the meeting and handing it to Esther Casco, the executive assistant to the board who sits next to the podium. Speaker cards must be turned in before the agenda item being spoken to is officially "called."

At committee meetings, those wishing to speak may sign up in advance or simply approach the podium when the committee chair calls for public comment.

Members of the public are typically allowed two minutes to speak, but time given may be shorter if there are a large number of speakers.

Recording and Live Coverage of Meetings

You can access recordings of regular and committee meetings.

Video recordings of regular meetings (not available for committee meetings)

Audio recordings of committee meetings (click where it says "audio recording," under the meeting agenda)

Recordings are usually posted a few days after the meeting.

Regular board meetings are also broadcast live on KALW, SFGOVTV2, and via live webcast.

#BoardWatch: PPS-SF live tweet coverage

Follow PPS-SF's twitter feed: this week we plan to cover the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night. You don't need to have a Twitter account to follow! Just log on to Twitter and search @ppssf #BoardWatch.