Sutro Elementary parents in San Francisco rally to keep school from closing

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 “All the data is outdated.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.