Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Matt Wayne, said on Thursday that he would be leaving the position on Friday due to mounting public opposition to the District’s intention to close its schools. Wayne took over as superintendent of the SFUSD in June 2022, just as the district was beginning to move away from COVID limitations and was still running a sizable deficit. The SFUSD’s circumstances worsened during his 26-month term, as the District eliminated 927 open positions, the deficit increased to $421 million, and more cuts were made. Over time, the likelihood of school closures increased, and in March of this year, the District ultimately declared that some closures will take place in 2025.
But when the California Department of Education declared in May that they would be sending fiscal experts to review some financial decisions made by the district, effectively taking over control of district expenditures, things reached a breaking point. In order to address the $421 million shortfall, the SFUSD had to swiftly start cutting back on the number of schools. The much-awaited news finally surfaced last week: a planned plan for the 2025–2026 school year would shut three schools, merge eight into others, and turn two into welcoming schools for those that would otherwise close. In addition, the school budget will be reduced by $113 million, and more than 500 teaching positions will be eliminated.
Ultimately, we are forced to cut our expenses for the upcoming year since our resources are simply too limited. Wayne stated last week, “We’re trying to determine the best course of action for our students, and that may involve shutting or combining some schools. The choice to eliminate or combine so many schools has come under fire from parents, students, educators, and legislators in the last week, even though it reduced the number of schools while the student body was dropping. Mayor London Breed even weighed in on Tuesday, urging the district to put a stop to the shutdown plans. The troubled Wayne, who declared on Thursday that he would be stepping down on Friday, was only put under greater strain by this decision.
Wayne out
Wayne did not make a statement on Thursday, but the Mayor’s office did, stating that the Board of Education was hearing a personnel matter. As she has done with her School Stabilisation Team, the Mayor is still dedicated to providing San Francisco Unified with staff and resources at this extremely trying period for families and students. There is no way for our public schools to fail. Right now, keeping local control over education is crucial. To do this, the District’s budget must be balanced while also ensuring that the schools provide the resources and initiatives that are essential to the success of their students. Wayne’s resignation is still subject to change. When the San Francisco Board of Education votes on his negotiated settlement agreement on Friday, he will be there to make it official. But essentially, he’s probably going to be gone by Friday night. “The task ahead of whoever was appointed in 2022 was nearly impossible to accomplish,” political advisor Sharon Lee told the Globe on Thursday. And to be honest, he made an effort to discover answers even as the deficit increased beneath him. Wayne created a plan that included layoffs and closures. No matter what, it was going to be unpopular. Any strategy was. And for attempting to find this as a solution, he is now receiving backlash and resigning.
Breed and others refuse to acknowledge the reality that the SFUSD will eventually have to reduce in size. In previous years, cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Buffalo, and numerous others had to deal with devastating school closures and enrolment declines due to insufficient funding. With this, San Francisco is attempting to live in a bubble. Despite all of his shortcomings as superintendent—and he had plenty—Wayne at last offered a fix. San Francisco is therefore sort of screwed. Kids aren’t being prioritised by them. Wayne’s resignation will be put to a vote by the Board on Friday.
