San Francisco, CA
SFUSD superintendent Matt Wayne resigns, school closures on hold
San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Matt Wayne resigned Friday, amid controversy over plans to close or merge more than a dozen schools amid a massive budget shortfall. The district also announced that the closures are on hold.
At an emergency meeting, the city’s Board of Education accepted Wayne’s resignation.
“The District is grateful for Dr. Wayne’s leadership during a challenging period for the SFUSD. Under Dr. Wayne’s leadership, the District has focused on student outcomes and teaching and learning,” the district said in a statement Friday night. “He has been an instructional leader with a deep commitment to our students’ success. The District agrees with Dr. Wayne that the time is right for new leadership in SFUSD.”
In a separate statement, Wayne said, “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have served SFUSD and proud of all that has been accomplished during my almost two-and-a-half years leading the District.”
The board announced that Maria Su, who has served as Executive Director of the Department of Children, Youth and their Families, would be nominated as the new Superintendent. Su was part of a “School Stabilization Team” of city officials appointed by Mayor London Breed last month to help the district.
“I am excited to deepen the work we started three weeks ago to stabilize the school district,” Su said. “San Francisco public schools are the city’s greatest asset. We must come together as a community to take care of our school district. SFUSD students, families, and staff are counting on us.”
Along with the change in leadership, the district announced that there would be no school closures in the 2025-26 school year.
Wayne has faced heat following an Oct. 8 announcement which named 11 elementary schools and two high schools that would be impacted. At the time, the district said that the closures were needed to balance the budget by next school year, or risk a takeover by the California Department of Education.
Under the proposal, three campuses would have closed, another eight schools would be merged with another school, while the remaining schools would be a welcoming school for a closed school.
Earlier this week, Breed weighed in on the closures, saying she had “lost confidence” in the superintendent but stopped short of calling him to step down. Breed also called for a halt to the closures.
“This cannot continue. Whatever this current proposed school closure process was meant to accomplish, or could have accomplished, is lost,” the mayor said in a statement released Tuesday. “This has become a distraction from the very real work that must be done to balance the budget in the next two months to prevent a state takeover. It is time to immediately stop this school closure process.”
At the same time, Breed said there would be “painful but necessary” decisions ahead to balance the budget and to avoid a state takeover.
Karling Aguilera-Fort, who is currently the Senior Associate Superintendent of Education Services, has been named as Acting Superintendent in the meantime.
What’s New
Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The union, which represents about 15,000 workers in the region, announced that the deal settles the last of the city’s 2024 hotel strikes, covering approximately 900 Hilton workers.
Newsweek has contacted Unite Here Local 2 and Hilton via email for comment.
Justin Sullivan/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Why It Matters
The new contracts after this year’s strikes establish significant improvements in wages, health care and workload protections for workers at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott-operated hotels.
The agreements conclude months of labor unrest that involved thousands of workers and disrupted San Francisco’s hotel industry.
What To Know
Hilton workers voted 99.4 percent in favor of the agreement on Christmas Eve, which includes a $3 per hour immediate wage increase, additional raises, and protections against understaffing and increased workloads.
The four-year contract preserves affordable union health insurance and provides pension increases. The deal covers workers at Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55, with 650 workers having actively participated in the strike.
This agreement follows similar contracts reached with Hyatt workers on Friday and Marriott workers last Thursday, covering a total of 2,500 workers who had been on strike since late September.
What People Are Saying
Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years, said: “These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up. We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Lizzy Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2, said: “Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards – and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight. As contract talks begin with the city’s other full-service hotels in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said on X: “All those that have been out on strike will be back to work, and just in time for Christmas. So, things are looking bright as we head into 2025.
What Happens Next
Unite Here Local 2 said it would push for other full-service hotels in San Francisco to adopt the same standards established by the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott agreements when contract negotiations resume in 2025.
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