There was no mention of closing school sites or laying off educational staff. No one spoke directly about exactly how much money may need to be cut to provide a balanced budget for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Instead, a sense of optimism and a turning of the page to more cooperation and collegiality among the seven members of the San Francisco Board of Education permeated the January 10 swearing in ceremony for the winners of the four seats that were on the November ballot. Among them was newcomer Jaime Huling, a bisexual married mom of two children, one a second grader in the district.
Like nearly all of the speakers at the ceremony, Huling said she was filled with "optimism for the future of" the San Francisco Unified School District and its roughly 42,000 students spread across more than 100 campuses around the city. Though she acknowledged the school board has "work to do to balance our budget."
Last fall, the school district had projected it needed to slash $100 million from its budget to deal with deficit spending and avoid being taken over by the state. In his remarks at the roughly 90-minute ceremony, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond noted that the district is not yet under the control of his statewide office but does receive fiscal guidance from it.
"As a nation, we fail to live up to the rhetoric that our kids are our greatest value," said Thurmond, a candidate for governor in 2026, of the disinvestment in public education.
Part of the problem for California school districts is declining enrollment, noted Thurmond, which he said all districts in the state are experiencing and results in less funding for them from Sacramento. A former school board member himself in his home city of Richmond in western Contra Costa County, Thurmond warned the incoming school board members they were taking on one of the hardest jobs in elected politics.
"You probably are asking what have you signed up for," he quipped.
Huling, a lawyer who had been on the ethics and elections team at the San Francisco City Attorney's office, was required to leave her position due to running for the elected educational post. She landed in a similar job with the Oakland City Attorney's office across the bay.
Sworn in by her former boss, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, Huling thanked her husband and children for their support throughout the campaign. She also apologized to her kids for having to miss a field trip in order to witness her take her oath of office.
"We can do hard things, especially when we know we are doing the right thing," pledged Huling, who was part of the legal team that fought for same-sex marriage rights while working as a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights and then as a deputy city attorney.
With the incoming administration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump expected to deport undocumented immigrants along with their children, even those born in the U.S., and rollback the rights of LGBTQ students, Huling promised she would "stand up to" Trump's policies. She learned from the marriage equality movement that one needs "to fight to win," a lesson Huling intends to apply to her new role as an elected school board member.
"Schools must remain a safe haven for learning," said Huling.
She alluded to the numerous controversies that have engulfed the city's school district in recent years, from fights over remote learning brought about by the COVID pandemic and a proposal to rename schools now jettisoned after a public outcry to the recall of three progressive school board members in 2022 and last year's fights over budget cuts and a plan to close upwards of a dozen school sites that has, for now, been shelved.
Rather than focus on "grievances," Huling said it is time to "move beyond the divisive battles of the past." She intends to deliver "results" and to "restore the public's trust in our public schools."
Straight allies and fellow parents of children who attend district schools, Parag Gupta and Supryia Ray, also took their oaths Friday. Thurmond swore in Ray and school board President Matt Alexander, who won reelection last fall, while gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) presided over Gupta's swearing in.
Gupta is the chief program officer at Mercy Housing, the largest U.S. nonprofit affordable housing provider in the U.S. that is working to add to the LGBTQ-affirming senior housing it has built in San Francisco. As for the workings of the school district, he pledged to make them "boring."
"Why? When the school district is boring, it is a sign it is working as it should," Gupta explained, asking the attendees to "imagine the day when SFUSD is not in the news because it is simply getting the job done. That is what we strive for."
Ray, an attorney, listed "transparency, accountability, and rebuilding trust" as her top priorities as a school board member. She said the newly constituted educational governing body is committed to making things better and delivering results for its students.
"In the past, too often, we have forgotten about that and, too often, gotten enmeshed in adult drama," said Ray.
They will serve alongside gay school board member Phil Kim, appointed by former mayor London Breed to fill a vacancy last year and not up for election until 2026.
"I am very excited to serve alongside such talented individuals in serving our city and our youth," Kim told the Bay Area Reporter.
Alexander, a straight ally, is a former longtime teacher and principal in the district. In his remarks, he referenced the fiscal and bureaucratic mismanagement that has plagued the school district "for a while."
But he also expressed a belief that those days are now behind it. Following the acrimonious departure of its former superintendent Matt Wayne, the school board brought on last October Superintendent Maria Su, Ph.D., who formerly led the city's Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families.
"I really think this is our moment," said Alexander.
Su had headed up a team of top city officials whom Breed had dispatched to the school district to help administrators deal with budgetary and other matters. In a sign of how imperative it is for the school leaders to have a close working relationship with the mayor and Board of Supervisors, who have stepped up over the years to financially support the district, the swearing in ceremony Friday for the quartet of school board members was held in the North Light Court of City Hall.
In attendance was a host of supervisors, including newly installed board President gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, sworn in herself on Wednesday to her first term. New Mayor Daniel Lurie addressed the audience before leaving to announce his appointment of Battalion Chief Dean Crispen as the city's new fire chief. A 34-year veteran of the department, Crispen will start in the role on January 21.
"Today marks a new chapter for San Francisco public schools," declared Lurie, echoing the optimistic tone of the proceeding.
At the same time, he also referenced the hurdles that await the school board. Lurie pledged the support of his administration and called on school leaders to "focus on results" for not only pupils but also their families.
"Our district's challenges are immense, and changes we need to see won't happen overnight. But with this board, we can make lasting change," he said.
Queer former San Francisco Youth Commission chair Ewan Barker Plummer, now enrolled at the University of San Francisco, attended the ceremony. He told the B.A.R. that he shares in the optimism that better days are ahead for the city's schools despite the myriad issues confronting them.
"I think we have three really good new people who are prepared to take on the challenges," said Plummer. "I am optimistic about the district, even though the fiscal outlook is challenging."
Anna Klafter, president of the United Administrators of San Francisco union for the local school district's supervisory administrators, told the B.A.R. that she was "cautiously optimistic" about the new school board leaders.
"I am optimistic that we can work with the new Board of Education to make sure schools have the resources they need to support our students," said Klafter, principal of Independence High School, a public alternative school in the Inner Sunset that she said has the highest percentage of LGBTQ students among the city's high schools.
In a statement issued a day ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, San Francisco Parent Coalition Executive Director Meredith Dodson laid out how the new school board can address its various problems, from budget woes to improving classroom instruction. She also cited there being a desperate need for "a boring" school board this year.
"Within the first six months, they must commit to a clear vision and plan — and then rally resources to make that plan a reality," wrote Dodson. "To do that they'll need training — to keep the district on track and to allow the superintendent and her team to lead. Done well, they have a real chance to balance the budget, fix operational issues and center every decision on the ultimate question: Is this the best choice for our students?"
College board elects gay vice prez
The San Francisco Community College District Board of Trustees elected Luis Zamora to serve as its vice president this year. A gay man appointed by Breed last summer to fill a vacancy, Zamora won election in November to a full four-year term.
The college board held its swearing in ceremony January 9 for the winners of its four seats that were on the fall ballot. Among them was Heather McCarty, who identifies as queer and teaches history and gender and women's studies at Ohlone College, an East Bay community college.
Elected to serve as president of the college board was Trustee Anita Martinez. It is in the midst of hiring a new chancellor, with interviews beginning "imminently," Zamora told the B.A.R., with someone being selected "as soon as possible."
He was in attendance at the school board swearing-in ceremony. With his own college district frequently in the press for the same reasons as the city's K-12 public schools, whether it be declining enrollment and revenues to staff cuts and leadership upheaval, Zamora told the B.A.R. he is hopeful City College of San Francisco will have its own boring year in 2025.
"I look forward to seeing both districts make progress together," said Zamora.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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