Category Archives: Uncategorized

Happy Spring Break!

Posted on March 27, 2013 by | Comments Off

No meeting this week, due to the spring recess. Have a great break — the next Board meeting will take place April 9.

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A revolution in SFUSD school food

Posted on December 18, 2012 by | 6 Comments

If you live in San Francisco, a revolution is coming to a school cafeteria near you  . . .  Revolution Foods, that is.   Tonight, the Board voted unanimously (6-0, with Commissioner Mendoza absent) to award Oakland-based Revolution Foods with an 18-month contract worth $13.5 million  to provide pre-cooked, pre-plated fresh meals (mostly breakfasts and lunches) to students in SFUSD.

This is big news for so many reasons:

  • The contract represents a shift in attitude towards student nutrition. It calls for fresh, not frozen entrees, and specifies that meals must be served to students within 24 hours of being prepared.  If you accept (which I do) that fresh food = higher quality, then this requirement should bring about a huge improvement in the appeal of meals served to students. In many districts, improving the quality of meals has led to modest improvements in participation. What I hope is that this step will begin a “virtuous cycle” of  increasing participation leading to better financial stability for the food program leading to better quality leading to even higher participation.
  •  The contract also represents an increased financial commitment to school meals in San Francisco. District officials told the Board that the school district is paying its current vendor $1.79 per lunch for elementary school students (up from the $1.59 per elementary lunch the district paid in 2011-12). Revolution’s bid for the new contract came to $1.95 per elementary lunch. Revolution was also the lowest bidder. The current vendor, Preferred Meal Systems of Illinois, bid $2.26 per elementary lunch for the same terms. Still,  the bottom line is that the district will now be paying more per meal than it has in the past. In my reasoning (and one of the reasons I supported the new contract), we also will get more for our money.
  • Finally, the contract also represents a huge increase in Revolution’s daily meal production in Northern California — according to co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Kirsten Tobey, the company is currently producing 33,000 lunches a day in its Oakland kitchens; with the addition of the San Francisco Unified account, it will have to produce at least 22,000 more lunches each day.  Even for one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, this will be a big lift for Revolution, but Ms. Tobey assured the Board the company can handle it. She said Revolution has already begun increasing refrigeration capacity and is alerting suppliers that their orders will be increasing as well.

Revolution’s foods will start appearing in SFUSD cafeterias on Monday, Jan. 7, the first day of school following the Winter break (and it’s a good thing, too, as sources tell me there was no backup plan if the Board had turned down the contract).  Talk about working without a (hair)net.  Once they’ve had a week or so to settle in, let me know what you think!

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Posted in Great things going on, nutrition, Uncategorized

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Gearing up for a new school year

Posted on August 1, 2012 by | Comments Off

Over the weekend, the Board and the district’s new leadership team met in retreat to set our priorities for the new school year (the first day of school is just about three weeks away!). Though most people know our new Superintendent Richard Carranza, you may not know our new Deputy Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero (until recently the Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Mission Superintendent’s Zone schools).  With his promotion, Guadalupe will now oversee all of the Area teams supervising school sites, Academics and Professional Development  (APD), Special Education, Early Education and Student Support Services. We have also hired Luis Valentino, a LAUSD veteran, to run APD as our Chief Academic Officer (DeeDee Desmond, who has been the interim CAO for the past two years, will now be running the Bayview Superintendent’s Zone schools — Dr. Patricia Gray retired from that position in June). General Counsel Don Davis is also newish — he joined the school district in January.

At the retreat, Luis, Guadalupe and Richard told the Board that all of the work this year will emphasize strengthening what they call the ”instructional core” — the three interdependent components of teachers, content and students — to expand teachers’ knowledge and skill, provide academically challenging content, and fostering highly-engaged and joyful learners. To do this, they will focus on a group of interdependent, high-priority actions:

  • Beginning to implement the Common Core state standards in English/Language Arts and Math;
  • Building teachers’ and administrators’ capacity to access and use student learning data to better inform instruction and meet each student’s individual needs;
  • Build professional learning systems to expand the capacity of all staff;
  • Provide tiered levels of support and intervention to support all students;
  • Provide students with disabilities specially designed instruction in the least restrictive environment;
  • Create a coherent and cohesive alignment between preschool and elementary school.

Richard told the Board that he has several longer-term priorities, including trying to advance the long-discussed plan to move Ruth Asawa School of the Arts closer to the City’s cultural and arts hub at Civic Center, as well as transforming our student nutrition program.  Finally, Board members discussed communication protocols with Richard — how do we want the Superintendent to communicate with us, how does he want us to communicate with staff, and what in general are the “ground rules” for the Board-Superintendent-Leadership relationship.  One thing I’m very pleased about is that our new Superintendent is  open to experimenting with social media and will be tweeting using the handle @SFUSD_Supe.  This will get the  Superintendent out of the central office “bubble” a bit, and will  help build his relationship with the broader district and City residents. 

For anyone interested in the learning more about the district’s progress on various initiatives, I highly recommend downloading the latest strategic plan progress report, “Walking the Talk,” which was released in June. It’s a very comprehensive overview of where the district is today and where we seek to go next.

Finally, tomorrow (August 1)  is another big day: administrators report back to work for the 2012-13 school year, beginning with the two-day Administrator Institute. It’s a professional development extravaganza that seeks to set the tone and frame the work for the coming year; it’s sometimes tough to strike the right tone between being honest about the many challenges the district faces (budget, gaps in achievement between groups, etc.) and getting people “pumped” for the work ahead.

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Posted in BOE, Improving schools, Uncategorized

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They’re out! School Assignment Letters 2012

Posted on March 23, 2012 by | 71 Comments

Today’s post is being written by Michelle Parker, President of the 2nd District(SFUSD) PTA. I am out of the country and Michelle graciously agreed to pinch-hit in my absence and report on the outcome of the first round.

P.S.: I am getting some email from a few families who did not receive spots at their attendance area schools but know of families who received spots at those schools, even if they don’t live in the attendance area. The explanation for how this can happen, according to EPC, is the trading cycles algorithm (AKA the swap). Let’s say you submit a list with Schools A, B, and C listed in order of preference. You are assigned to School B. Let’s say I submit a list with Schools B, A, C listed in order of preference, and am assigned to School A. AFTER all seats are filled, the algorithm looks for someone who is willing to trade School A for School B, and another person who is willing to trade School B for School A. It matches us, re-assigning you to your higher choice of School A and me to my higher choice of School B. At that point, attendance area doesn’t come into play because all seats have already been filled.

They’re out! 13,919 school assignment offers were mailed to families last Friday. And, in typical fashion, I saw a line outside the Educational Placement Center (EPC) at  555 Franklin Monday which reached out and around, all the way to the corner of Franklin and McAllister for most of the day- people standing in line to file medical or family hardship appeals, or to submit an ammended school request list.

The official Press Release from SFUSD came out late Monday- a few highlights: The number of overall applications was down. This was as expected due to the State’s eligibility age for Kindergarten moving back from Dec 1 to Nov 1, therefore impacting the number of applicants eligible to begin transitional kindergarten, as well as the predicted decrease in high school enrollment (number of eighth graders entering high school is lower than last year).

There was a slight increase in the percentage of applicants receiving one of their choices, though it is difficult to draw many conclusions from this data. There are a few things I am curious about, some of which we will learn more about as detailed data comes in. This was the first year that elementary schools feeding into a designated middle received a priority assignment. Of the 85% of 6th grade applicants who received one of their choices, how many applied to their feeder school, versus not, and did they receive that school? How many siblings, whose feeder school is different from an older brother/sister’s took advantage of the sibling priority vs. attend their feeder school? On the elementary school side- but still related to the feeder patterns, did people choose their requested elementary schools dependant on the middle school they fed into? Of course the data won’t be able to answer this question, so speculation is all we’ve got. This year the 15 most requested elementary schools were: Clarendon GE, Rooftop, West Portal, Lawton, Grattan, Lilienthal, Alica Fong Yu, Sunset, Miraloma, Jefferson, Feinstein, Sherman, Clarendon JBBP, Alamo, and Argonne. Last year the schools with highest number of first choice requests were Clarendon, Alice Fong Yu, Lilienthal, Alvarado, West Portal, Rooftop, Sherman, Taylor, Buena Vista Horace Mann, Lawton, Miraloma, Monroe, Alamo and Dianne Feinstein. This is not exactly an apples to apples list, since the first is total requests and not just first choice requests like the second.

If you are received a placement offer here is what you need to know: Register at your designated school to secure enrollment by April 13. It is recommended you do this, even if you want another school, should a spot open up. Accepting a placement offer still allows you to choose to seek a higher choice school during the May Placement Period. There is no priority given in any rounds to students who have not registered at any school. If you do NOT register your child at the designated school by April 13, your placement will be cancelled.

The EPC’s webpage describes the process in detail.

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Posted in student assignment, Uncategorized

News flash: SFUSD will not implement Transitional Kindergarten

Posted on January 26, 2012 by | 18 Comments

Update (March 9, 2012): SFUSD has now announced it will implement TK at two Early Education sites:  McLaren and Leola Havard  – located in Visitacion Valley and the Bayview. Families who applied for TK before the January enrollment deadline, as well as those who have applied since then, will be notified that they are eligible to apply to either of those sites. 

Today the district released the following statement:

Effective immediately, SFUSD will not be offering Transitional Kindergarten (TK) for the 2012-2013 school year. Only students turning 5 years old on or before Nov. 1 will be eligible for Kindergarten entry for the 2012-2013 school year.

In the Governor’s proposed budget for the 2012-2013 school year, school districts would not receive any funding for Transitional Kindergarten, and the state would not mandate districts to offer it.  Given that SFUSD cannot afford to offer Transitional Kindergarten if it is not funded by the state, SFUSD will not plan to offer Transitional Kindergarten for the upcoming school year.

While the California Department of Education continues to provide updates and the situation may change over the course of the next several months, SFUSD is moving forward on the assumption that there will be insufficient funding to offer Transitional Kindergarten in the 2012-2013 budget.  SFUSD is providing this notification so that families who were interested in TK can take action to make alternative arrangements for their children for the 2012-2013 school year.

The Governor’s budget is just a proposal. What if the legislature
still decides to mandate and/or fund Transitional Kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year?
SFUSD will not plan to offer Transitional Kindergarten (TK) unless it is state mandated. The legislature is required by law to adopt its budget by July 1 each year though in some recent years the state budget has been passed later than this. Transitional K will affect Kindergarten spaces throughout the district and cannot be accommodated with such late notice. Additionally, families need to plan for their child’s educational setting months in advance. If it is state mandated, SFUSD will offer Transitional Kindergarten spots at two Early Education schools in 2012-2013:  Havard and McLaren Early Education Schools.

I am a parent who had planned on sending my child to an SFUSD Transitional K program. What do I do now?
If your child is in preschool, ensure your provider can maintain a space for your child. If your child is not enrolled in a SFUSD Early Education Department school (EED school) and is no longer eligible to continue in his or her current program, you may find out more information about eligibility for SFUSD EED placements by contacting Melissa Luc at (415) 750-8500.

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R.I.P. Warren Hellman

Posted on December 19, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Warren with Deputy Superintendent Richard Carranza at the 2010 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concert for SFUSD students (photograph by Charly Franklin 2010)

San Francisco’s schools have lost a great champion with the passing of philanthropist and Lowell alum Warren Hellman yesterday evening. From the school district’s press release:

“Warren was by far the most generous supporter of San Francisco public schools. He championed so many important opportunities for our city’s children. Not only did he personally give, but he inspired others to give; his contributions were multiplied millions of times over,” says School Board President Hydra Mendoza. “He will be deeply missed. We send our condolences to his family.”

Hellman led the campaign to create the Public Education Enrichment Fund, a City Charter amendment passed by voters in March 2004 that guarantees city funding for public schools and pre-schools through 2015. The fund includes support for arts, music, sports, and library programs in SFUSD.

He was also a major contributor to three successful school bond campaigns resulting in every one of San Francisco’s public school facilities receiving or slated to receive facilities upgrades, including replacing aging school buildings, improving accessibility for disabled students and modernizing classroom interiors.

“The district has lost its best friend. No one has singlehandedly done more for our schools than Warren. His legacy is in the generations of public school children who now have better school buildings and whose access to arts, sports and libraries has been sustained through local funding in spite of the economic downturn,” says Superintendent Carlos Garcia.

In addition to his leadership for local school funding propositions, Hellman chaired the San Francisco School Alliance Advisory Board through which he engaged other business leaders in contributing to school district initiatives.

A great music lover, he also sponsored an annual event as part of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, where once a year, thousands of sixth grade students in the city were brought to Golden Gate Park to enjoy a private concert just for them.

Beyond sending my condolences to his family, there’s nothing much else to say besides: Thank you, Warren, for everything you did for San Francisco. You will be greatly missed.

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Guest post: The Case for School Equality

Posted on March 23, 2011 by | 25 Comments

Yesterday, a person who has commented a few times on the blog left this comment (apologizing in advance for its length).  Under the pseudonym Idealistic Mama, she wrote: “This comment started out as a response to a request on SF K files to make a case for public schools. It turned out as something way too long to post as a comment, though I did email them a copy. After putting so much thought in to it I am genuinely interested in hearing what other parents (and certainly school board members) think. Feel free to do with it what you wish.”  I was struck enough with her comments — and perseverance in writing more than 2,000 words about the assignment system — I asked if I could post them as a rare guest post. She agreed, so, without further ado, here are Idealistic Mama’s comments on the current assignment system, school equity, and the cases for/against neighborhood schools. Enjoy!

Every year a significant number of San Francisco families are denied access to a viable public school option for their kids. In some cases it is the result of sheer misfortune as a result of the lottery system. In other cases it is the “misfortune” of living in an area with an undesirable attendance area school and a preference system that favors you going to that school, not escaping it. In all cases, it is unfair.

Neighborhood School Assignments Will Not Work Unless Disparity Between Schools is Reduced

I disagree that because only 24% of people selected their neighborhood school as their first choice that parents do not want a neighborhood school system.

Just about every parent I know dreams of being able to walk to, or be in close proximity to, their kid’s school…assuming of course its a good school. But, under the new assignment system you still have the same set of desirable and undesirable schools in place. You can’t expect people to automatically want to go to a struggling school simply because it is now their “neighborhood school.” And it is unfair to place the burden of turning that school around solely on the families that live in that attendance area. Continue reading →

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Accepted to Gateway MS? Read this

Posted on March 21, 2011 by | 2 Comments

Today I heard from a friend whose child received an acceptance to Gateway MS and is trying to decide between that and another offer. Among the positives for Gateway, the mom told me, is that “you’re in through high school.”

Actually, you’re not. I’ve heard this misconception from a number of people who attended information sessions at Gateway MS,  and I want to make very clear that Gateway Charter MS and the highly-requested Gateway Charter HS are separate schools. Attending Gateway MS will not give students preferential admission to Gateway HS.  I was concerned enough this morning to call Sharon Olken, the head of Gateway HS and the person managing the MS startup, to ask her what parents were being told at information sessions for the middle school.

According to Ms. Olken, Gateway has told families that they hope many MS families will ultimately apply to Gateway HS, and that the school would welcome the opportunity to work with students from 6th to 12th grades. However, she acknowledged that the school is prevented under charter school laws from giving anyone other than siblings preferential admissions to the school.

This is an important thing for families to keep in mind — the Gateway HS lottery is competitive, and I know some families would love a competitive edge if it were available. I was quite clear when I voted for the Gateway MS charter (it squeaked through on a 4-3 vote) that it was a standalone middle school, and I feel strongly that “locking in” middle school families through HS is not fair to all the other families who may, in 7th or 8th grades, realize that Gateway is a good option for their child.

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Upcoming: Site Council Summit, Superintendent Zone update

Posted on February 9, 2011 by | 3 Comments

Two upcoming events of interest in the next week:

  • 2011 School Planning Summit: Saturday, Feb. 12, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Everett Middle School. Principals, teachers, parents and other school staff will gather to hear a budget outlook from Supt. Garcia and attend workshops on everything from site-based budgeting to transportation changes.  Everett MS, 450 Church St.
  • Committee of the Whole on the Superintendent’s Zone & SIG grants: Board members will hear an update on Superintendent’s Zone planning and implementation of School Improvement Grants (SIG).  Tuesday, Feb. 15, 6 p.m. in the Boardroom at 555 Franklin St.

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SFUSD celebrates Inclusive Schools Week

Posted on December 7, 2010 by | 4 Comments

Every year during the first week of December, the Inclusive Schools Network promotes National Inclusive Schools Week. I want to commend SFUSD parents and administrators for bringing this year’s commemoration to the highest level yet. Schools across the district are holding inclusion awareness events, panel discussions, and even movie viewings (“Including Samuel” by photojournalist Dan Habib is a must-see; also I am a fan of the harder-to-find but still relevant ”Song of Our Children” — every year I think I am going to organize a double-feature of these two films and never quite get around to it).  On the district web site, there is a lovely article by SFUSD parent Audrey Vernick — an excerpt is below (but please read the whole thing!):

Inclusive schools foster the building of an inclusive society. Our children are teaching us how to be more accepting, in spite of the experiences we may have had growing up in a more segregated society. Almost everyone will have some form of a disability at some point in his or her life, whether they are born with it, have an accident, or develop it in the natural process of aging. It’s important that young people are raised to accept others despite their challenges.

On Thursday at noon, the Mayor will issue a proclamation in support of inclusive schools on the steps of City Hall. Please join us to be part of this district-wide celebration. SFUSD still has a long way to go to be truly inclusive, but we are making progress every day. My heartfelt thanks to the parents, teachers and students who are helping us get there.

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