San Francisco Unified School District is planning to cut down budgets by cutting down resources and teachers.
They want to reduce our budget by $113 million for the 2025-26 school year; SFUSD plans to give 395 pink slips to teachers, social workers, and counselors across the district, as well as 164 teacher aides and 278 administrators and other staff.
Mission High School’s many teachers, administrators, and students could be affected. Students may find it more challenging for them to learn in their classes without as many educators there to help them.
Principal Perspective:
When asked about the budget cuts for next year, Ms. Valerie Forero, Principal, said, “What we’re hearing is that the district has made a proposal called, ‘Keep the Lights On,’ which means that they are staffing our schools at the most basic budget.”
She continued: “That’s what they’ve presented to us this far, but we’re waiting to hear what our budget will be hopefully soon.”
“Right now it’s hard to say (what changes we might see next year) because we don’t have any information, so oftentimes I feel like speculating makes things more complicated. I’m just worried about making sure that our school can be safe and that we have enough people to make us safe. That includes support staff, specifically our security, and that we have enough teachers. What I’m most concerned about is that teachers get a fair ratio of students in their classrooms.”
She added that the number of teachers who will be cut is “unclear. The district has a system and they will do things by seniority…there’s a process that goes on through the end of May.”
Security perspective:
Dwayne Guttormsen, a security team member, said that budget cuts ”would affect Mission since there are only two guards. If they suddenly both get sick, there would be no guards on duty and there are no substitutes for guards.”
“It’s disheartening to learn that I may not be here at Mission High this coming fall,” Ofi Tupuola, another security member, said. “I found a second home and a place with people I have grown to love. I never really liked any other job as much as I liked this one. I just hope the time I had here was impactful to whoever I crossed paths with. I like to think wherever I go I bring some kind of sunshine. The thing I’ll miss most is the students!”
Teachers Perspective:
Dr. Monadel Herzallah, who teaches Arabic, said that he’s “really outraged about the fact that there is a lot of wasted money that’s taken place into other programs, having our tax money going into wars and supporting regimes and military occupations instead of supporting public education. That is really not the way that people should look at the United States, particularly in different states and in San Francisco. I think we should be able to support our public schools, support our public education and we will have less teachers.”
Ms. Cindy Castillo, an Ethnic Studies and U.S. History teacher, said, “If we have more students in every class and lose some programs, we will suffer and we cannot provide for the whole students, such as holistic education that our students deserve to get, so when they graduate from high school they become knowledgeable about everything around them. When you cut down on sports or art or any of these programs, it will hurt the potential of getting more selections.”
Ms. Aimee Riechel, who teaches Peer Resources, said that not only is SFUSD planning to cut teachers but also planning to cut Peer Resources because our superintendent thinks that too much money goes into this class.
“It makes teachers and students and administration just nervous for next year and when you are in that space, it just creates a sense of anxiety for the following year. Like, you can’t plan if you’re a teacher. If you are a counselor, you don’t know what class to put students into. The program has been around for 40 years, but we don’t have the course in our budget for next year,” said Ms. Riechel.
Ms. Riechel has noticed a change in attitude in her students too.
”I have noticed my students are getting worried about their teachers who are currently in our school and may not be around next year. They may have classes impacted and so there’s just a lot of anxiety in uncertainty.”
Ms. Riechel continued: “Next year, personally I worry about losing new teachers who are really the future of the profession. I worry about electives that might be cut, like Peer Resources, but we’re not sure whether or not we’ll be able to keep it. I’m also worried about the other electives that students might want to have.”
Nurse Perspective:
“Everyone who’s employed by SFUSD is concerned, especially for people that are relatively new hires,” said Nurse Mary-Michael Preyer-Watts. “I think that they are the teachers who might be forced into taking a different position or being relocated to a different school such as leaving their site that they might like and enjoy but they may not have a choice.”
She also said, “ I’m also concerned about the number of cuts and how that might affect our students and the support that they receive.”
“We have a really robust support team here for our students, and I am concerned about losing the support for students. We have an awesome administrative team and I hope that all of our administrators can stay in place. I’m concerned about class size since It’s hard to give students all the attention and support that they need when you have a large student population to a low teacher ratio. There’s also a proposal for a new nurse model, so I don’t think there’s any cuts in nursing,”
Students’ Perspectives:
One of the many students who attended and spoke at the March 11 SFUSD board meeting was Lia Coursey, a sophomore.
During the meeting, Lia Coursey said she was upset. “My generation of students lived through COVID-era education, so we know what it’s like to lose programs we love and depend on. I am told that this bill will impact school nurses, counselors, security, teachers, and AP and elective classes, as well as my creative writing class, which I have found a home in.”
She continued saying ”I’m asking how you plan on fixing what you are about to break. I know that you don’t have the money to pay for these programs, but how did you let it get to a point where students and staff are expected to take the hit for the district’s failures? Won’t these cuts worsen the trend of declining enrollment rates? SFUSD students who can afford it will flock to private education, or leave the city entirely, leaving the less privileged at the bottom of the ladder once again.”
Lastly, she said, “Due to your mismanaged spending and negligence, students in the most disadvantaged positions will lose programs and mentors valuable to their development. I’m asking for an answer on behalf of the future: What is your plan once these cuts are enacted? Will cutting courses and losing teachers become the new normal? Will we always be expected to accept less from our education system?”
Evelyn Bernal Rosas, a junior said, “I want to stand here right here in front of you today and tell you that this is not a mistake, you’re making a crime. A crime that affects the crisis of our generation to kids and future generations.”
“AP and elective classes are what makes each kid stand out and give them the opportunity to explore something that they might be interested in. You’re trying to minimize you’re trying to minimize the amount of counselors and security but what is the impact on counselors, working harder or counselors working more hard in what feels like labor? How will kids get help?”
Bernal Rosas, concluded by saying, “How will kids get the help they need from their school counselor? If the counselor is busy with ten other people, forget about changing your schedule. If you don’t like what classes you get you’re most likely going to have to stay with them. Same with security. Security is what’s supposed to keep children safe in schools, making sure things don’t happen in the hallways and kids get to class on time.”
Kaeloni Parks-Williams, a junior, said SFUSD’s “proposal for budget cuts would do nothing for your motto of keeping the lights on by taking away integral parts of school districts and as if you and you’re not only limiting the opportunities that our public schools have to offer but these cuts will also become detrimental to students safety, health and learning.”
“Firstly, your proposal for less staff is careless. What if they are already small staff and have to do nothing but harm the student body? Less security would mean less protection and less protection from outside threats putting students directly in harm’s way.”
“Secondly, less counseling of any kind limits outside school resources for kids whether that be academic or personal making it harder for kids to seek help they need to plan for the future but cutting staff isn’t the only concern. Education cuts like these will affect life plans after graduation such as college or university. Without these credits how do we stand a chance to get to private schools and institutions? How do you expect me to succeed in my school year?”
Overall, students and staff are fighting for their future and what will impact them from learning.
On March 14th, SFUSD announced that there would be no teacher layoff notices, but will be moving forward with sending out preliminary layoff notices to 34 counselors and 143 paraeducators.
