SF school district quiet on LGBTQ parents group launch

Two years after the school board approved the creation of an advisory body for parents of LGBTQ students, the San Francisco Unified School District is working to launch it this academic year. But school district officials have provided few details about their plans for convening the Queer Transgender Parent Advisory Council.

Since August, the Bay Area Reporter has inquired about the QTPAC's formation, including how many people applied to be on it, how many will be selected, and when it will first meet. As the district had previously said it had no money to fund the staffing for the advisory body, the B.A.R. also asked how much funding had been allocated toward it.

To date, the school district has not provided answers to those questions. In a brief emailed reply on September 4, SFUSD media relations coordinator Katrina Kincade had informed the B.A.R., "At this time applications are closed and our team is working on steps moving forward to get the group up and running. We will share more updates as soon as we have them."

Asked again this week to respond to the B.A.R.'s questions for this article, Kincade replied Tuesday afternoon, "We do not have any updates to share at this time. We will let you know when we do."

Earlier this year, the school district had posted online that it was accepting applications from parents interested in serving on the QTPAC. (The posting had said the deadline to do so was August 30, though the online page for applicants to fill out initially had said parents had until September 27, which the district corrected after being asked about the discrepancy by the B.A.R.)

Parents and guardians of SFUSD students in any grade from pre-K to 12th grade who are 2SLGBTQIA+, which stands for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender, were welcome to apply. Martin Rawlings-Fein, who is a bisexual and transgender father, applied to be a general member of the QTPAC, which he had advocated to see be formed.

"I think it is really important that parents are given the opportunity to stand up and work for their kids and make that happen," said Rawlings-Fein, who with his wife, Shelli, has a 13-year-old daughter, Lia, who attends Hoover Middle School as an eighth grader this year.

Their older daughter, Sadie, who is queer, graduated out of the district and is now a sophomore in college in New York City. While he doesn't want to take a leadership role in the QTPAC, Rawlings-Fein told the B.A.R. one reason he applied to be a member of it was to ensure parents who are transgender are represented on it.

"I am hopeful the makeup of the committee, of the PAC itself, actually is this rather than just being name service," said Rawlings-Fein, referring to the 2SLGBTQIA+ acronym. "Like, here we are naming it this but don't have any trans people."

In mid-September, Rawlings-Fein was notified by the school district that it had received his application for the QTPAC and asked for confirmation that he was seeking a general membership. Since then, he has not heard that he has been officially selected for it or when it will hold its inaugural meeting, though with much of the calendar in October taken up by Jewish High Holy Days, the rabbinical student predicted it wouldn't be until November at the earliest.

"I am in the dark as well," Rawlings-Fein told the B.A.R. when asked if he knew the answer to such questions.

Proposed in 2021

When it was first proposed in 2021, the QTPAC was to have 25 people, according to a PowerPoint presentation at one school board meeting. It was expected that the school district would need to budget $180,000 toward hiring a person to staff it.

This year, the school district is facing a precarious budget situation with a $421 million deficit projected for its next fiscal year. Tuesday, SFUSD announced a list of schools facing closure, including an elementary school named after the late gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk, as a way to cut $100 million from its budget.

"There is so much going on right now. It is really important we focus on our students and focus on helping kids be themselves and meet them where they are at," said Rawlings-Fein about the QTPAC being able to advocate for LGBTQ families amid all the various issues confronting the school district.

As for its responsibilities, the QTPAC is "to provide a space to listen and take action to create more welcoming, affirming and supportive schools for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and families," per the application posted this year. "Our mission is to honor the diversity of families, parents, and caregivers and support them to be leaders and advocates in their 2SLGBTQIA+ students' education by listening to their experiences, uplifting their voices, sharing information, and shaping the development of district resources, policies, and programs."

The QTPAC's draft mission statement, which Rawlings-Fein helped to compose, says its goal is "to equip parents, caregivers, and all families with the knowledge and skills to advocate for their 2SLGBTQIA+ kids, fostering engagement with educators and administrators in SFUSD. Furthermore, we strive to develop resources that empower families to support their 2SLGBTQIA+ children's academic and socio-emotional growth."

It is unclear exactly how many LGBTQ students attend SFUSD campuses. According to data from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 students in SFUSD identified being gay or lesbian on the national survey, 205 were bisexual, and 253 marked "other/questioning" for their sexual identity. A total of 2,291 students in the district filled out the survey that year.

The district has long had an LGBTQ+ Students Services office to provide support for both students and families. It also has a Queer and Trans Advisory Council for LGBTQ+ middle and high school students.