A very curious change of tune from recently resigned SF school board president Lainie Motamedi, who claimed she quit over her “health and personal circumstances,” but now says she quit in protest of Superintendent Matt Wayne, whom she helped hire.

Is there any civic body in San Francisco that has more drama than the SF school board? There was of course the recall madness of 2022, which recall supporters insisted would right this ship. But the district’s deficit exploded under this new and supposedly more sane board, and teachers still weren’t getting paid. Now we have the unsavory situations of state monitors overseeing the district’s spending, and of course, school closures looming that will inevitably rip communities apart. Amidst this, board president Lainie Motamedi abruptly resigned in late August.

Today the Chronicle runs an article in which Motamedi absolutely trashes SF Superintendent Matt Wayne. The Chronicle writes in this piece that Motamedi “detailed for the first time Thursday why she resigned,” before allowing her to rattle off a litany of shit-talk against Wayne.

“If someone proves themselves not up to the task, you've got to cut bait,” she told the Chronicle. “I think there's a roadmap, but it's not one he's offering up.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds like a very public recommendation to fire Matt Wayne.

But about this business that she “detailed for the first time” why she quit? When Motamedi resigned, this very same San Francisco Chronicle gave her a direct quote wherein she did explain why she was stepping down. She said very explicitly that “I’m stepping down due to health and personal circumstances.” She mentioned nothing about Matt Wayne then. So what’s changed?

There have definitely been issues with Wayne. Notably, his delay of the school closure announcements last week has been universally panned. He also offered people district jobs, and then rescinded those offers because of the hiring freeze. That Chronicle article also mentions something about “failure to submit state wage reports.”

But what’s not mentioned in that Chronicle article is that Motamedi helped oversee Wayne’s hiring. Motamedi was appointed to the school board in March 2022, and in fairness, was duly reelected to the position the following November. But Matt Wayne was hired as superintendent in May 2022, so Motamedi was on his hiring team. Yes, Jenny Lam was board president at the time, but Motamedi was still on the team that hired Matt Wayne.

It’s difficult to see this as anything other than a pressure blitz to intimidate Wayne one direction or another on school closures, or to flat-out start a campaign to fire him. Oh, I’m sure this will be billed as a “grassroots” effort, though will likely involve the same players (and money sources) as the school board recall.  

But if San Francisco schools have taught us anything over the last three years, it’s that cleaning house at the leadership level does not guarantee improved outcomes, and often just seems to just ramp up yet more chaos.

Related: SF School Board President Resigns Ahead of Tense Season, Mayor Appoints Replacement [SFist]

Image: @LainieforSFboe via Twitter