San Francisco, CA
SFUSD school board approves new superintendent in 6-3 vote
SFUSD School Board votes in new superintendent
Maria Su’s appointment to the role was approved in a 6-3 vote on Tuesday night, but not all parents and board members were happy with the choice. KTVU’s Tori Gaines reports from San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco schools officially have a new superintendent. Maria Su was voted into the role at a San Francisco Unified School District Board Meeting in the city Tuesday night.
The vote did not pass unanimously; Commissioners Kevine Boggess and Jenny Lam voted against Su’s appointment along with the student representative on the board.
Some parents tell KTVU they are hopeful that this new leadership will get the district moving in the right direction, while others had several questions about the new choice.
Parents and community members spoke out at the board meeting, and many parents laid out arguments against the recent changes in the district, which could face a takeover from the state if it doesn’t close its $100 million deficit by December.
“No one wants a state takeover. We need to work together to find a solution. Right now, the ends did not justify the means,” said Katrina Tan, the mother of a Spring Valley student said to the board.
Su, the now the former head of San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families, does not have the legally- required educational background to fill the role.
“Why do you have to go the extreme limbs of waiving legally required credentials so that you can appoint her?” Luce, a parent of a middle schooler in San Francisco, asked the board.
The board’s general counsel says it is not unusual for a school district to waive the required educational certifications. The board voted 6-3 to allow Su to take the role without the normal educational certifications and background.
Board President Matt Alexander spoke in support of Su’s appointment, saying he was grateful someone with Su’s business acumen and experience running a government agency was willing to step in to help calm the chaos that SF has faced over the years.
Parents expressed frustration at the board’s vote to allow former Superintendent Matt Wayne to resign from his role with a severance package worth over half a million dollars.
“If we claim our district is in debt, how do we justify giving Wayne a $500,000 plus sendoff?” said Juana, a member of the 5 Elements Youth Collective.
Though immediate school closures are off the table for next year, parents still feel they could come in the future.
Su says she’s ready for the challenges ahead.
“There’s been a lot of chaos over the years, and we have not been communicating clearly and in a timely manner about what we are doing and I need to do that,” Su told KTVU.
The families at the meeting on Tuesday are still worried about what changes could come with a potential state takeover. They also expressed frustration at the lack of public input for this decision. However, one board member clarified that superintendent searches are typically confidential.
The board also answered a couple of key questions on Tuesday: firstly, Su will be paid a salary of $320,000 per year, and her contract will last until June 2026. Secondly, if the district does not feel Su is meeting expectations in the role, the district can choose to end her contract without any buyout.
Featured
Maria Su expected to be confirmed as new SFUSD Superintendent
San Francisco’s school board will vote on Tuesday to confirm Maria Su as the district’s new superintendent after Matt Wayne abruptly stepped down Friday. On Monday, she picked up a vote of confidence from the head of California’s Department of Education.
San Francisco, CA
Holiday travel at San Francisco airport being affected by winter weather
With rain and wind in the forecast, it may make some people’s holiday travel a little more difficult.
At San Francisco International Airport, more than 400 flights have been delayed. Maggie Nelson’s was delayed coming into the airport.
“It seemed like everyone was in a panic or a hurry to get anywhere,” said Nelson. “The plane was crowded. There was a lot of turbulence.”
Nelson flew in from Redmond, Oregon, usually a quick flight to SFO, just under two hours, but she ended up being delayed nearly that long.
“Originally, we were supposed to take off at 2 p.m. and then our flight got delayed to 2:50 p.m., and then it got delayed again,” Nelson explained. “I don’t think we took off until 3:30 p.m. because of high winds or something.”
California is in the middle of an intense storm period. Two systems bringing heavy rain and strong winds, and Nelson could feel all of it.
“The turbulence was pretty bad,” said Nelson. “There was a point where I got nauseous. I was like ‘Are we there yet? Is this over?’”
While she’s grateful to be on solid ground, Shon Alkaslasi was about to take off or at least try to.
“United sent a text that wind might affect operations,” said Alkaslasi.
He arrived early, just in case of holiday traffic, now he’s anticipating he may be delayed. He’s travelling home to Los Angeles, another area in the middle of the storms.
“I would say I’m not the biggest fan of turbulence so I am a little bit nervous about that,” Alkaslaski detailed. “But if they say it’s totally safe to travel, I’m not usually concerned but the feeling of bumps on a plane is just not the most comfortable and I’ll have to deal with it.”
Airport Duty Manager Crystal David said overall things haven’t been too bad, but West Coast flights, like Alkaslasi’s and Nelson’s, are the ones most likely to be impacted.
“SFO is on a ground delay program throughout the night, through midnight and so right now it’s about 127 minutes because of winds,” said David. “Mostly it’s the west coast flights are that are being affected right now with delays of up to 35 minutes for the west coast traffic.”
She said the delays could continue into the morning, when even stronger winds are expected. She recommends travelers check in with their airlines.
But for Nelson, she’s just glad she made it home.
“I used to live a lot closer so it’s a lot harder to come home now so when I do get to come home, I try to take advantage of that and appreciate it,” said Nelson.
San Francisco, CA
Executive chef of new buzzy San Francisco restaurant Bourbon Steak visits ABC7
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 got in the holiday spirit Monday with the executive chef of San Francisco’s buzziest restaurants that just opened in October — to a lot of fanfare.
We’re talking about Bourbon Steak, inside the Westin St. Francis Hotel.
Legendary celebrity chef Michael Mina’s latest opening brings him back to San Francisco, and everyone came to celebrate: a cable car, Mayor Daniel Lurie, and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry — a partner in this venture who created the bourbon bar Eighth Rule inside the restaurant.
But they’re not just about style. They are first and foremost about steaks.
Because they are on the menu for so many holiday gatherings, we are delighted that Bourbon Steak executive chef Kevin Schantz joined us on ABC7’s “Midday Live.”
Watch the full interview in the player above.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
Copyright © 2025 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco, CA
Thousands in one San Francisco neighborhood heading into another day without power
While many people in San Francisco have their power back, there are still thousands without it.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Mayor Daniel Lurie said 4,000 PG&E customers in the Civic Center area are still in the dark. One of them is Parvathy Menon.
“We haven’t been able to take showers or use the bathroom,” said Menon. “Our electricity is out. I think all our food started rotting about a day in.”
She lives at 100 Van Ness. She said she’s grateful she’s going out of town tomorrow, but even that’s posing some problems.
“I actually have to pack for a trip tonight, and we’re doing it in full darkness,” Menon explained. “We are using our phone lights, we are using our laptops to charge our phones.”
Her apartment is pitch black, except for the small amount of streetlight coming through the windows. She said the apartment complex has been doing all they can to help, like providing some food and water.
They have a small generator to power some lights in the lobby and one elevator for the nearly 30-story apartment building.
Menon said she is most upset about the lack of communication from PG&E.
“Initially, when this started, we were supposed to get power back within the day, then it went to the next day and now they just stopped calling us completely,” said Menon.
San Francisco City Hall was closed for the day because of the outage, but Mayor Daniel Lurie held a press conference with Supervisors Matt Dorsey and Bilal Mahmood.
Lurie said what residents have gone through is unacceptable, and he’s lost trust in PG&E’s estimated times for repair.
“They gave us a timeline that they believe in, but it’s not one that I can have confidence in any longer,” Lurie said. “So, we don’t have full faith that 6 a.m. is the time tomorrow.”
“Shame on PG&E for having this happen,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “This is a company that has had a lot of reliability issues and the jury is out on what happened, but if this is negligence, I think it’s going to be really important for people to understand they have rights as customers.”
Leaders encourage everyone who lost anything to file a claim with PG&E; they could be eligible for reimbursements. Mahmood is calling for a hearing after the new year to get some answers for PG&E.
“What went wrong, why weren’t they able to address it this weekend and what steps are they taking to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Mahmood about the question he has for the utility company.
PG&E said the outage happened after a fire at its Mission Street substation left significant damage, but the cause is still under investigation.
Meanwhile, Menon has been refreshing social media looking for good news, but she’s starting to lose faith.
“They’re really doing nothing to help us here, so I’m losing hope,” said Menon.
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