Tensions are high among students, parents, and teachers in the San Francisco Unified School District, as the district has announced they’re going to close a number of SF public schools, and they’ll say which ones they’re closing in just a few weeks.

The beleaguered San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has been clear that they're going to have to close some schools in 2025, amidst declining enrollment, a deficit of more than $400 million, and the likelihood of teacher layoffs looming. And since the district’s finances are now under the oversight of state monitors, it’s clear that schools will be slashed, because less enrollment means less state funding for the cash-strapped SFUSD.

With the first days of school for the 2024-25 school year now just two weeks away, the Chronicle reports that the list of which schools are slated to close is “expected to be released in mid-September.” There are 102 elementary, middle, and high schools in the district, and the Chron reports that "even the more popular or high-performing schools could land on the closure list."

Wait, even Lowell? (Probably not.)

The district’s current enrollment is just shy of 50,000 students, a decline that represents about 14,000 fewer students than its overall capacity. The Chronicle notes that enrollment is expected to drop by about 5,000 more students by the year 2030.

Adding to the anxiety is how the district has not said how many schools they’re going to close. SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick tells the Chronicle it will be a significant number, because they wouldn’t be going through this difficult and unpopular closure process for “just for a few schools,” and added, “We don’t want to be doing this again in a few years.”

The Chron reports that SFUSD will use a formula to identify the school closures, taking into account geography, test scores, and the quality of the schools’ facilities. They will then announce the proposed closures next month, which will be followed by public feedback sessions (likely shouting matches), with a final school board vote on the closures likely in December.

Considerations of equity for low-income students and students of color will also be made, given the legal fights that arose in Oakland over that district's closure plans, with discrimination being a key argument against some closures.

The SFUSD hopes to handle the closure process better than Oakland did, where proposed 2022 school closures led to public protests, multiple lawsuits, state probes, and activists occupying the schools, before the district just bowed to pressure, reversed course, and didn’t close a group of schools that were the subject of the most contention.

Related: Some San Francisco Public Schools Face Closure as Enrollment Plummets [SFist]

Image: Lin D. via Yelp