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Some San Francisco Public Schools Face Closure as Enrollment Plummets

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Some San Francisco Public Schools Face Closure as Enrollment Plummets


San Francisco’s public school system, grappling with declining enrollment and a looming budget deficit, is set to close or consolidate an unspecified number of schools by fall 2025, Superintendent Matt Wayne announced.

Wayne discussed the plan at a summit Saturday and gave more details in an interview with the Chronicle. “We feel like in order to create the schools our students deserve and our families expect, we need to have fewer schools,” Wayne told the Chronicle’s education reporter, Jill Tucker.

SF public schools currently have about 49,500 students enrolled – down from 53,000 in 2015. Projections show they could lose another 5,000 by 2032.

With fewer students comes decreased state funding, further straining the district’s already stretched resources and the city’s budget crisis. Wayne told the Chronicle that the district faces a “fiscal cliff” after years of overspending. He said the current lack of funds prevents the district form providing consistent support, programs, and necessary repairs across all of SF’s 121 schools. Wayne also noted that the potential for a state takeover if the budget isn’t balanced.

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While no specific schools have been identified yet, the district apparently aims to finalize the closure list by September or October 2024, for a potential implementation by fall 2025. The next eight months will reportedly be dedicated to establishing closure criteria, conducting an equity audit to ensure marginalized students aren’t disproportionately affected, and gathering extensive community input.

Feature image via Blackjack48  ♠t ♣c /Wikimedia Commons.



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San Francisco, CA

Maria Isabel Is a Masterclass in Mariscos and Moles

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Maria Isabel Is a Masterclass in Mariscos and Moles


San Francisco first came to know chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz through their pop-up Istanbul Modern, and later through their breakthrough Presidio restaurant Dalida. The duo’s success is grounded in their take on Eastern Mediterranean food, which they made a conscious decision to champion 10 years ago.

Fast-forward to 2026, and now Laura is taking on a personal project of her own, with Sayat by her side, placing foods from Mexico’s Guerrero and Sinaloa center stage at Maria Isabel. It’s a refreshing menu that combines both Mexican and local ingredients, through the lens of the Ozyilmazes cooking backgrounds.

Reservations are released on OpenTable 30 days in advance, but Laura confirmed that they do take walk-ins depending on space. Smaller parties or solo diners might have better luck sliding in, thanks to the counter in the brighter, “Maria” portion of the restaurant.

The cocktails from consulting bar director Evan Williams are always worth a glimpse, whether at Dalida or at Maria Isabel. They’re well-balanced and have incredible depth and technique behind them. That being said, the team sourced wines from woman-led wine brands such as LOTIS Wines and Amevive Wine, if you’re looking to explore past the usual selections you’ll see elsewhere.

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San Francisco considers closing some permanent supportive housing

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San Francisco considers closing some permanent supportive housing


In San Francisco, homeless advocates are expressing concern as the city considers potentially closing some of its permanent supportive housing sites. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, homeless service providers reported that the mayor’s chief of health and human services met with housing providers last month that the city was working on a list of potential buildings to be closed.

Multiple homeless advocates told NBC Bay Area they had heard about this proposal and the general approach by Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office to reexamine how the city uses permanent supportive housing.

“This is something that’s been discussed for a few months at this point,” said Christin Evans, a former San Francisco Homeless Oversight Commissioner and current small business owner in the city.

Advocates describe permanent supportive housing (PSH) as a more stable and long term option for people experiencing homelessness, providing a place to live that is directly connected to the health and social services a person needs when transitioning out of homelessness. San Francisco currently has more than 9,000 site-based permanent supportive housing units.

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Mayor Daniel Lurie’s press secretary, Charles Lutvak, shared a statement on Thursday, noting, “… our administration is prioritizing tools to get people struggling with addiction into treatment and the path to stability.”

“Permanent supportive housing is a critical one, but we need to make it work better,” Lutvak continued, noting the city is spending $300 million a year while also facing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal cuts.

Lutvak also said it is not determined yet whether the city will be closing permanent supportive housing beds in the coming months.

Still, the conversations so far are enough to have advocates worried.

“Every housing unit you get rid of, you’ve got additional homeless people on the streets,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director with the Coalition on Homelessness.

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Friedenbach said there are currently thousands of people on the city’s waitlist to get into permanent supportive housing.

“Permanent supportive housing does work. It has been studied to death, and it is the primary resolution of homelessness that has the highest level of success,” she added.

This conversation about permanent supportive housing units is unfolding as the city already faces a 643 million dollar budget gap. But advocates argue, while housing is expensive, it will cost the city even more to have unhoused people in the city who are disconnected from a place to live or support services.

“We’re cutting really essential services for our most vulnerable san Franciscans, and its actually going to harm our recovery as a city,” Evans said.

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San Francisco tops US housing market as homes sell far over asking, report says

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San Francisco tops US housing market as homes sell far over asking, report says


The average San Francisco home sold for nearly 90% over the asking price in March, according to Redfin.

The city is now the most expensive metro area in the country.

Artificial intelligence is driving much of those costs, as companies grow and hire, with many requiring staff to work in person.

Housing inventory, on the other hand, isn’t keeping up.

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NBC Bay Area spoke with Arrian Binning, an agent with the Binnings Team at Christie’s San Francisco, who said the city is expensive but worth the investment.

“San Francisco is one of the best markets in the world,” Binning said. “I’ve seen supply constriction benefit property owners, so when you’re a property owner in a market that has scarce inventory but also is an engine of growth, that’s kind of the trifecta in terms of investing your hard-earned dollars into a new home.”

San Francisco bumped San Jose out of the top spot.

In San Jose, the median home price in March was more than $1.46 million, about what it was a year ago.

NBC Bay Area’s Kris Sanchez has the full report in the video above.

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