Another school on the San Francisco Unified School District’s proposed closure list is fighting to keep the classrooms open. 

Parents and teachers sent a message loud and clear to the superintendent just a day after Mayor Breed said she had lost confidence in Matt Wayne’s ability to manage the closures.

Parents and students at Sutro Elementary School in the Richmond district gathered to try and save their school. It is one of 13 schools on a list from the district that could potentially close or merge with others as SFUSD tries to climb out of a $113 million deficit. 

Alex Hawes’ daughter just started kindergarten a couple of months ago. He said none of this makes sense to him.

“The only person that I’ve heard say we should close schools is Matt Wayne,” Hawes said. “I haven’t heard one other person say that we should close schools. So, to me, that seems like there’s a pretty clear message being sent.”

Superintendent Matt Wayne faced criticism from the crowd gathered at Sutro Elementary Wednesday night. Many questioned whether he’s the right person to lead the district.

“So, I ask you, if the Mayor has no confidence in you as a superintendent, how can any of us any parent have confidence that you are managing the school district in a responsible way,” a parent asked.

“I’m here, and we’re here to share responses about the process and the questions,” Superintendent Wayne replied. “I appreciate what’s being shared, and I’ll say I’m here as an educator first and foremost. Trying to make the long-term decisions, working with our board of education, working with our community will ultimately help all our students in the district.”

Many parents left the town hall meeting feeling the Superintendent didn’t directly answer many of the questions. Parents wanted transparency to explain how Sutro ended up on the proposed closure list.

“Definitely not because all he answers is we will go back to the office and research on it,” parent Sam Lau said. “All the data is outdated. A lot of the parents bring that up.”

Lau is a parent of two, one who graduated from Sutro and a 5th grader currently at the school. He said Sutro is the only Cantonese bi-literacy program in the Richmond district and it means a lot to many of the families here.

“Our school 75% is Asian and a lot of them are new immigrants,” Lau said. “Then, in this whole entire Richmond neighborhood, that is the only school that we have this kind of program for new immigrants.”

Superintendent Wayne is expected to visit every school on the closure list before presenting his final recommendation to the board on Nov. 12. 

Parents are hoping the district can find other ways to address declining enrollment and the budget deficit.

“If closing the schools got you out of the deficit, then maybe that would be a good move, but it seems like a Band-Aid,” Hawes said.

In her questionnaire for The Standard, Breed said she has advocated for speed cameras across the city and pushed for lowering speed limits. She has also advocated for pedestrian- and bike-friendly spaces, including devoted bike lanes, slow streets, and car-free roads like JFK Promenade.

The city’s infrastructure was “redesigned in the middle part of the last century to prioritize cars at the expense of pedestrians and bicyclists,” Breed wrote, and  modernizing it will “take time” and “political will.” 

“All of this is to say that I care deeply about street safety, and have a record to show for it,” she added. “But we have so much more work to do, and this will continue to be a priority for my administration.”

The San Francisco Giants did not make the playoffs in 2024, missing out for the seventh time in the last eight years as the team continues to hover right around the 80-win mark.

Someone who was not a reason why things didn’t go according to plan was rookie infielder Tyler Fitzgerald. He burst onto the scene this season as a 27-year-old and played whatever role was needed in both the infield and outfield.

For his efforts, he was named to the 2024 MLB Pipeline All-Rookie Second Team at shortstop.

Fitzgerald shined most in the infield, both at second base and shortstop, but it was his numbers at the plate that were extremely impressive in his 96 games played.

In 314 at-bats, Fitzgerald slashed .280/.334/.497 with 15 home runs, 34 RBI, 19 doubles, and two triples. He put up an OPS+ of 136 and was also valuable on the base paths with 17 stolen bases.

As a fourth round selection in the 2019 MLB draft out of Louisville, expectations were never exactly sky high for Fitzgerald. He never put up supremely gaudy numbers in the minor leagues as just a career .265 hitter in three full seasons, but it was 2023 when he really began to show some progress.

Fitzgerald was hitting .334 at the Double-A level that season before the team promoted him to Triple-A where he continued to rake in the remaining 102 games.

Hitting .287 with 20 home runs, it was evident that he was getting close to being a Major League player. The team promoted him towards the end of the year, giving him 10 games at the end of September before he became a fixture in 2024.

During the summer when the team was still very much involved in the playoff race, Fitzgerald became just the eighth Giant since 1900, and the first since Barry Bonds, to hit home runs in five consecutive games.

As the team looks to take the next step towards becoming a contender once again, Fitzgerald looks to be a key part of San Francisco’s future plans.