San Francisco Unified School District

San Francisco Unified School District
Location
San Francisco, California
United States
District information
Type Public
Established 1851
Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews
Students and staff
Students 56,310 (2011-2012)[1]
Other information
Website www.sfusd.edu
San Francisco Unified School District Administrative Building at 555 Franklin Street.

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California.[2] Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Education, the district serves more than 55,500 students in more than 160 institutions.[3]

SFUSD utilizes an intra-district school choice system and requires students and parents to submit a selection application. Every year in the fall, the SFUSD hosts a Public School Enrollment Fair to provide families access to information about all the schools in the district.

SFUSD has the second highest Academic Performance Index among the seven largest California school districts in California.[4] Newsweek’s national ranking of "Best High Schools in America" named seven SFUSD high schools among the top five percent in the country in 2007. In 2005, two SFUSD schools were recognized by the federal government as No Child Left Behind Blue-Ribbon Schools.

Student admissions

Another San Francisco Unified School District building, from Fell st. & Franklin st. crossing.
Windows of that San Francisco Unified School District building covered with photos of jazz legends.

SFUSD previously practiced a race-based admissions system. In 1983 the NAACP sued the school district and won a consent decree that mandated that no more than 45% of any racial group may make up the percentage of students at a single school. At the time, white and black students were the largest demographic groups in the school district. The decree was intended to benefit black children. When it was discovered that Hispanic children also had low test scores, they were added to the decree's intended beneficiaries.[5]

In a five-year period ending in 1999, Asian and Latino students were the largest demographic groups in the SFUSD. In 1994, after several ethnic Chinese students were denied admission to programs because too many ethnic Chinese students were present, ethnic Chinese parents sued SFUSD arguing that the system promoted racial discrimination.[5] On April 15, 1998, the Chinese-American group asked a federal appeals court to end the admissions practice.[6] The system required ethnic Chinese students to receive higher scores than other ethnic groups in order to be admitted to Lowell High School, the city's most prestigious public high school.[6][7] Waldemar Rojas, the superintendent, wanted to keep the decree because the district had received $37 million in desegregation funds. The NAACP had defended the decree. White parents who were against the racial quotas had a tendency to leave San Francisco.[5]

In 1998 a federal appeals court ruled that the race-based criteria should not be ended, but that SFUSD is required to justify why it required higher test scores from ethnic Chinese applicants to gain admission to the school district's most prestigious high school and that the school district is required to prove, during a trial held in the 1999-2000 school year, that segregation is remaining in the school system and that the limitation of the ethnic groups at each school is the only possible remedy.[8] On February 16, 1999, lawyers representing the Chinese parents revealed that the school district had agreed to a settlement that removed the previous race-based admission system; William Orrick, the U.S. district judge, had planned to officially announce the news of the settlement the following day.[5] The district planned to implement a "diversity index" in which race was one factor, but in December 1999 Orrick rejected the plan as unconstitutional. Orrick ordered the district to resubmit the plan without race as a factor or to resubmit the plan under the settlement that had been reached with the Chinese parents.[9] In January 2000 the district agreed to remove race as a factor of consideration for admission.[10] In 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that race may not be an admission factor for a K-12 school.[11]

As of 2007 SFUSD admission factors include race-neutral aspects, such as the socioeconomic status of a student's family. Lyanne Melendez of KGO-TV wrote in 2007 "but the local courts and the district have found that race-neutral factors haven't worked in San Francisco's case."[11]

Current Schools

High schools

Balboa High School
Galileo Academy of Science and Technology
Lowell High School
Mission High School
Ida B. Wells High School
Comprehensive schools
Alternative schools

Middle schools

K-8 schools

K-5 schools

Closed or merged schools

High schools

  • International Studies of Academy (1984-2016) Was located 655 De Haro Street and was merged into John O'Connell High School
  • J. Eugene McAteer High School (1973–2002) was located at 555 Portola Drive and had been built to replace 'Poly' (see below) as the most centrally located high school
  • Newcomer High School (was located at the old Laguna Honda Elementary)
  • Metropolitan Arts and Tech High School (Charter) (____-2013) (located at the former Woodrow Wilson High School campus) (merged into City Arts and Technology High School)
  • Polytechnic High School (1895–1972) 701 Frederick Street across from Kezar Stadium.[13]
  • Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy (2002–2004)
  • Woodrow Wilson High School (1963-1996) 400 Mansell Avenue (renamed as Phillip & Sala Burton HS)

Middle schools

  • Aim High Academy, 2003-2006 (relocated to Luther Burbank MS site and renamed as Small Middle School for Equity at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year)
  • Luther Burbank Middle School (closed at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year) was located at 325 La Grande Avenue. It is currently the home for the June Jordan School for Equity (Small public school), and City Arts and Technology High School (Charter school).
  • Gloria R. Davis College Preparatory Academy (closed at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year) was located at 1195 Hudson Street[14]
  • Excelsior Middle School was merged into International Studies Academy [ISA HS] in the fall of 2008 allowing for a 6-12 grade school.
  • Benjamin Franklin Middle School (closed at the end of the 2004-2005 academic year) was located at 1430 Scott Street and renamed in the fall of 2006 as the Burl L. Toler Campus and is now home to both Gateway High School and KIPP SF Bay Academy (both charter schools).
  • Horace Mann Middle School (was merged with Buena Vista K-5 to form a K-8 program starting in fall 2011 while supporting the 7th & 8th graders who had started at Horace Mann)
  • Enola Maxwell Middle School (closed at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year) (formerly Potrero Middle School) them to I.S.A. High School, and now home to San Francisco International High School.

K-8 schools

  • Willie L. Brown Jr. Academy College Preparatory School, 4-8 (formerly Twenty-First Century K-8) (closed at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year for considerable renovations as well as academic issues.)
  • Treasure Island School (closed mid-school year, December 16, 2005)
  • Twenty-First Century K-8 (became Willie L. Brown College Preparatory 2004-2005)

Elementary schools

  • Cabrillo Elementary School (closed at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year) was located at 750 25th Avenue in the Outer Richmond District. It is now used as a district office for Curriculum & Instruction, VAPA & IT.
  • Columbus Elementary was located at 1541 12th Avenue at the Inner Sunset Neighborhood. In 1995, SFUSD opened its first Chinese Immersion School in the District called Alice Fong Yu Alternative School.
  • William R. De Avila Elementary (formerly Dudley Stone Elementary) was located at 1351 Haight Street, between Masonic and Central in the Upper Haight. The school was closed at the end of the 2004-2005 school year and briefly rented to City College of San Francisco. Before the start of the 2009-2010 school year, the school district re-opened De Avila as the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila. Kindergarten and 1st grade students were enrolled for 2009-2010, with the plan of gradually expanding the school to comprise grades K-5.
  • Diamond Heights Elementary (currently home to the San Francisco Police Academy & PAL) was located at 350 Amber Drive, just behind the Diamond Heights' Safeway. The building was built in the 1960s hugging the Diamond Heights/Glen Park Canyon. Almost immediately upon completion the property was determined to be unsafe and sliding into the canyon. The school was closed for one year, shored up and reopened. It was closed as a public school in the 1980s. Subsequently, the building was sold to the SFPD and has been used since for cadet training.
  • Farragut Elementary (closed in the early 1970s) was located on Holloway between Capitol and Faxon in the Ingleside District. Sold off to developers, townhouses were built on the site.
  • Golden Gate Elementary (closed at the end of the 2004-2005 academic year) was located at 1601 Turk Street between Steiner and Divisadero. The campus is the current home to both Gateway Middle School and Creative Arts Charter School.
  • JBBP West (Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program in the Sunset) was located at 3045 Santiago Street at 42nd Avenue for 3 years, after having been housed at the William R. De Avila campus for 2 years. Due to the small size of the Santiago campus and a growing student population, the program moved to Rosa Parks Elementary at 1501 O'Farrell Street after the 2005-2006 academic year, and was renamed JBBP Rosa Parks.
  • Laguna Honda Elementary was located at 1350 Seventh Avenue in the Inner Sunset. Reopened as Independence High School.
  • San Miguel Elementary (closed in the 1980s) was located at 300 Seneca Avenue in the Excelsior District. It It Became Home for Leadership High School.
  • John Swett Alternative Elementary (merged with John Muir after 2005-2006 academic year) was located at 727 Golden Gate Avenue, between Franklin and Gough. The School is now home to Civic Center Secondary School.

Superintendents

The following is a list of SFUSD Superintendents: (additional information is needed to complete the list between 1851 and 1934)

  • 1851 (1851) – ? (?): Thomas J. Nevins
  • 1902 (1902) – 1905 (1905): William Langdon
  • 1905 (1905) – 1922 (1922): Alfred Roncovieri
  • 1934 (1934) – 1935 (1935): Edwin A. Lee
  • 1936 (1936) – 1942 (1942): Joseph P. Nourse[15]
  • 1943 (1943) – 1946 (1946): Curtis E. Warren
  • 1947 (1947) – 1954 (1954): Herbert Clish
  • 1955 (1955) – 1966 (1966): Harold Spears
  • 1967 (1967) – 1970 (1970): Robert Jenkins
  • 1970 (1970) – 1972 (1972): Thomas Shaheen[16]
  • 1972 (1972) – 1975 (1975): Steven Morena[17]
  • 1975 (1975) – 1985 (1985): Robert F. Alioto[18]
  • 1985 (1985) – 1986 (1986): Carlos V. Cornejo (interim)
  • 1986 (1986) – 1992 (1992): Ramon C. Cortines[19]
  • 1992 (1992) – 1999 (1999): Waldemar "Bill" Rojas[20]
  • 1999 (1999) – 2000 (2000): Linda F. Davis (interim)
  • 2000 (2000) – 2006 (2006): Arlene Ackerman
  • 2006 (2006) – 2007 (2007): Gwen Chan (interim)
  • 2007 (2007) – 2012 (2012): Carlos A. Garcia
  • 2012 (2012) – 2016 (2016): Richard A. Carranza
  • 2016 (2016) – 2017 (2017): Myong Leigh (interim)[21]
  • 2017–present: Dr. Vincent Matthews[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Educational Demographics Unit (2012). "California Public Schools - District Report: 2011-12 District Enrollment by Grade San Francisco Unified". California Department of Education. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  2. ↑ San Francisco History Center (2008). "San Francisco Unified School District Records" (PDF). 1854-2005 (Bulk 1874-1978). San Francisco Public Library: vii. Archived from the original (.PDF) on August 31, 2013. Retrieved 2010-02-11. ()
  3. ↑ Educational Demographics Unit (2011). "California Public Schools - District Report: 2010-11 District Enrollment by Grade San Francisco Unified". California Department of Education. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  4. ↑ "About SFUSD: Did you know". San Francisco Unified School District. 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Walsh, Joan. "A new racial era for San Francisco schools." (Archive) Salon. Thursday February 18, 1999. Retrieved on August 25, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "SCHOOL'S RACE QUOTAS UNDER FIRE." Contra Costa Times. April 16, 1998. News p. A10. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "SAN FRANCISCO - A Chinese-American group asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to end a 15-year-old, judge-approved racial admissions system in San Francisco schools that requires Chinese students to score higher than others to get into the top high school. The students are entitled to "the right to attend the public schools of San Francisco without being subject to a system of race and ethnic quotas," Daniel Girard, lawyer for Chinese-American students and parents challenging the... "
  7. ↑ "CHALLENGING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS." Los Angeles Daily News. July 19, 1994. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "To this country's great shame, there was a time when an American child who studied hard and earned good grades nonetheless was held back from the best public school classes because of the color of his skin. That young child was punished because he was black. Oddly, school districts across America have determined that the best way to atone for such racial injustice is more skin-color and ethnic discrimination. In the San Francisco Unified School District, children wishing to attend Lowell[...]"
  8. ↑ "COURT ALLOWS RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS S.F. SCHOOLS: THE DISTRICT MUST RETURN IN SEPTEMBER TO PROVE ITS CASE." San Jose Mercury News. June 5, 1998. California News p. 3B. Retrieved on August 25, 2013. "With misgivings, a federal appeals court refused Thursday to end a 15-year-old system of racial admissions to San Francisco public schools, but said SFUSD must justify its requirement of higher test scores for Chinese-Americans to get into the top high school. The San Francisco Unified School District must prove, at a trial in time for the 1999-2000 school year, that segregation persists in the schools and can be remedied only by limiting the representation of each ethnic group at[...]"
  9. ↑ "JUDGE TELLS S.F. SCHOOLS TO REDO ADMISSIONS PLAN." San Jose Mercury News. December 18, 1999. Local Section p. 3B. Retrieved on August 25, 2013. "A federal judge Friday rejected as unconstitutional a plan by San Francisco schools to implement a diversity index that would consider race and ethnicity in the admissions process. U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered San Francisco Unified School District officials by Jan. 7 to either resubmit the plan without race and ethnicity as factors or resubmit the plan being implemented this year under a settlement between the district and Chinese-American students. The settlement,[...]"
  10. ↑ "SCHOOL ASSIGNMENTS NOT BASED ON RACE." San Jose Mercury News. January 9, 2000. California News p. 3B. Retrieved on August 24, 2013. "In compliance with a judge's order, the San Francisco Unified School District has decided to abandon its effort to use race as a factor inassigning students to schools. The school district informed U.S. District Judge William Orrick on Friday of its plan to continue using its current race-neutral plan, which was implemented last spring. Orrick had ruled the district could not use a proposed diversity index that would have used race as one of the factors for assigning students to[...]"
  11. 1 2 Melendez, Lyanne. "S.F. Schools Reviewing Diversity Policy." (Archive) KGO-TV (ABC). Thursday June 28, 2007. Retrieved on August 25, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Chinese Education Center: Home Page". School Loop. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  13. ↑ Wagner, Venise (1997-04-21). "Poly High alums seek spirit of '68". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  15. ↑ "Joseph Pomeroy Nourse". Nourse.net. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  16. ↑ Asimov, Nanette (5 October 2007). "Thomas Shaheen - 1970s S.F. schools chief backed desegregation". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Steven Morena". Legacy.com. San Francisco Chronicle. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "OBITUARIES : Robert Alioto, 54; Former San Francisco School Chief". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 21 May 1988. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Gross, Jan (5 September 1993). "Schools Chief Seen as Intense, Effective Manager". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Dr. Waldemar "Bill" Rojas". Hispanic Border Leadership Institute. Arizona State University. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard Carranza is top pick to lead Houston Independent School District". San Francisco Unified School District. San Francisco Unified School District. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "SFUSD: San Francisco Board of Education Announces Finalist for San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent". www.sfusd.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-17.

Further reading

  • (in Japanese) Saito, Katsura (齋藤 桂 Saitō Katsura). "New Approach for Assessing Outcomes in San Francisco Unified School District: Driving Improvement with a Balanced Scorecard (サンフランシスコ統合学区における学力向上政策--Balanced Scorecardに焦点をあてて, Archive) Kyoto University Research Studies in Education (京都大学大学院教育学研究科紀要). Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University (Faculty of Education) (京都大学大学院教育学研究科). ISSN 1345-2142, NDL Article ID 11184660. NII Article ID 40018924726.NII NACSIS-CAT ID (NCID) :AA11332212. 25 April 2011. Volume 57. p. 601-613.
  • (in Japanese) Honda, Hideki (ほんだひでき Honda Hideki) and Shihori Suzuki (すずきしほり Suzuki Shihori). "サンフランシスコ統合学区の�チャーター・スクール�1部." (Archive) Ikuyo Kaneko Research Group @ SFC (金子郁容研究会 Kaneko Ikuyo Kenkyūkai). Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus.
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