San Francisco County Grand Jury • 2008-2009

Being Propositioned by the SAN Francisco Unified School District The San Francisco Unified School District (the Sfusd)*

Published: June 16, 2009 52 pages Consolidated Report

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Findings 6 findings

SFUSD used the moving of SOTA to 135 Van Ness as a ploy to garner votes to pass bond measures.

3 5 4 6 Χ Χ Χ X SFUSD Response Χ Superintendent Χ

The following essential standards are linked to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession and shall be required for teachers to demonstrate proficiency: CSTP Essential Standards i. 3.2 Organize curriculum to support student understanding of subject matter based on Content and Performance Standards and Core Curriculum. ii. 1.4 Engage students in problem solving, critical thinking and other activities that make subject matter meaningful. iii. 2.4 Establish and maintain standards for student behavior. iν. 2.5 Implement classroom procedures and routines that support student learning. ٧. 5.4 Use results of assessment to guide instruction. vi. 4.1 Design long-term and individual lesson plans to foster and support student learning. vii. 5.5 Communicate with students and families about progress.

SFUSD has designated as surplus 10 parcels by the CBRE report and 1 more, the Font St. property, all named in the 2008-2009 Civil Grand Jury Report, "Use It or Lose It: A Report on the Surplus Property Owned by the San Francisco Unified School District. "Funds from the sale of the surplus property would facilitate the move of SOTA to the Civic Center.

A published news report and letters to the editors 14 of the major San Francisco newspapers improperly attribute false arguments to the Jury and raise the untrue concern that there are deed restrictions on the SFUSD surplus-designated property. The Jury's efforts to level the playing field with corrections and/or retractions have not yet been heeded by the press.

SFUSD asked for funds on the ballot in 2008 for "Quality Teacher and Education" that resulted in only 41% of funds going to teacher salaries.

Recommendations 14

R1

That measures placed on the ballot by SFUSD to raise money have an independent review of the wording.
R2

3 4 SFUSD Χ Χ Response Χ Χ Mayor Χ Χ Χ Χ Board of Supervisors Χ γ
R3

That SFUSD commit to moving SOTA to the Civic Center.
R4

That SFUSD sell the 11 parcels described in Finding 4 to fund the move of SOTA to the 135 Van Ness complex without the use of any further bond measures.
R5

Fiscal actions: 1993- SFUSD allocates $10 million for SOTA move prior to placing bond measure on the ballot, 1993- SFUSD prepares a bond proposal including SOTA site, 1994- the bond passes, 1993-total cost of moving SOTA is $23million, 1994- FEMA to provide 75% of estimated cost of repair, 1995- FEMA approves SFUSD cost estimates of $9 million, 1995- Blue Scheme $172 million, Sepia Scheme $142 million, Nourse Auditorium $29 million, 1997- estimated cost for SOTA move is $40 million, 1997-SFUSD Facilities Management Dept details $22.4 million set- side for SOTA, 2002-SFUSD required to repay FEMA $15 million for failure to mothball 170 Fell, 2003- Prop A $15 million bond, 2006-Prop A $15 million.
R6

Lopez v. San Francisco Unified School Dist., No. C 99-3260 (SI) (D.Cal. filed July 6, 2004).
R7

Prop A 2003 ballot measure, pg 37, see appendix 2.
R8

See Lopez v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., No. C 99-3260 (SI) (docket no. 547, settlement conf. minutes placing settlement on the record).
R9

Prop A 2006 measure, pg 104 see appendix 3.
R10

Prop A 2008 measure see appendix 4.
R11

MOU between SFUSD and UESF see appendix 5.
R12

See endnote 10, Prop A 2008.
R13

Finnie, Chuck & Julian Guthrie, "A Grave Injustice Against the Children", San Francisco Chronicle, 11 November 2001. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/11/11/MN173740.DTL
R14

Newspaper Articles, see Appendix 6

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.