Is San Francisco’s School Closure List Delayed Again? District Offers Little Clarity

After a news report suggesting that the highly anticipated list of San Francisco public schools set to close could be delayed again, the district has yet to clarify the situation — adding to the messy execution of its school consolidation process and the anxiety felt by many families and staff members.

On Friday, Mission Local reported that multiple sources said district leaders planned to postpone announcing the list until after the November election. If true, it would be the second time the announcement is pushed back amid a tumultuous academic year for the San Francisco Unified School District. As of Monday, the district has yet to confirm whether or not there will be a further delay.

In September, just two days before the list was first expected, Superintendent Matt Wayne announced he would be postponing it to October, saying the district needed more time to thoroughly review aspects of the plan.

In the week that followed, former school board president Lainie Motamedi called out failures in Wayne’s leadership, the school board called an emergency weekend meeting, and Mayor London Breed assigned a team of experts to support the school board’s Resource Alignment Initiative, as it has labeled the plan to close or merge some campuses.

Wayne also confirmed at a recent press conference that the district planned to release a list of schools this month, but since Friday’s reporting, SFUSD has not confirmed that its plans remain unchanged.

“SFUSD will share an update in October on the process for school closures and mergers in the 2025–26 school year, as we have stated,” Laura Dudnick, SFUSD’s communications officer, told KQED via email on Saturday.

However, she did not elaborate on whether that update would include school names — and, when asked directly, said she did not “have any updates on what will be shared in October.”

“We are working to finalize that and will let the community know,” she said Sunday via text.

Meredith Dodson, the executive director of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, said that SFUSD leaders she has been in communication with have said there hasn’t been any change in the revised timeline.

“We have parents and community members who are on the [mayor’s] District Advisory Council around the RAI process, and they also are with the understanding that that timeline has never changed,” she said.

Still, as the enrollment fair, time for school tours, and elusive date for the announcement of closures creep closer, Dodson said parents’ anxiety is increasing. Friday’s news, and the lack of a clear response to it, has made them more confused.

“I think it would behoove the district to share soon to the public, to the media, anything in response to what came out on Friday. If that was inaccurate, then the district, it’s their responsibility to clear up anything that was inaccurate in the media that has a big reach,” she told KQED.

“I hope that now that it’s Monday, we see something from the district that updates the media and the community. Are they still on schedule, or is there something to that piece from Friday? Do we need to worry that there’s a further delay?”

Erin Mapes, a middle school art teacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann K–8 community school, said that the lack of information has been frustrating and stressful for teachers, too.

“I wish that there was more transparency on the district’s part about what is happening and like why the delays continue and what the plan is moving forward,” she said. “Even just not knowing, that impacts us, too, because this is just in the back of our mind that it’s coming, but we don’t know what’s happening.”

She said the district has lost trust in recent years after a slew of issues. A payroll fiasco resulted in incorrect and, in some cases, no pay for staff. SFUSD officials recently admitted that mishandling of special education hiring left paraeducator candidates in limbo while positions were vacant at the start of this school year. Now, the consolidation process is appearing increasingly rocky.

According to Dudnick, the timeline for the school board’s decisions on the list of schools to shutter has not changed: It is expected to take a first reading of Wayne’s recommendation on Nov. 12, and the board vote that would finalize the decision is set for Dec. 10.

The changes will go into effect at the end of the academic year.

“We understand that the recent uncertainty about our plans is unsettling,” Dudnick said. “However, we believe it’s important to wait until we have clear, reliable information to share about what comes next. We are working urgently and diligently to do this as soon as possible.”