SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – San Francisco voters are deciding on whether or not to recall three school board members.
The board has been under fire for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the renaming of schools and other matters.
Three San Francisco Unified School Board Commissioners are the targets for proponents of the recall.
RESULTS
State Assembly member for District 17
| Ballots Cast | Percentage | |
| David Campos | 22,861 | 35.44% |
| Matt Haney | 24,190 | 37.50% |
| Bilal Mahmood | 13,598 | 21.08% |
| Thea Selby | 3,865 | 5.99% |
| TOTAL | 64,514 |
San Francisco Unified School District board members recall
Commissioner Alison Collins
| Total | Percentage | |
| Yes | 99,555 | 78.63% |
| No | 27,061 | 21.37% |
| TOTAL | 126,616 |
President Gabriela López
| Total | Percentage | |
| Yes | 94,692 | 74.99% |
| No | 31,575 | 25.01% |
| TOTAL | 126,267 |
Vice President Faauuga Moliga
| Total | Percentage | |
| Yes | 90,977 | 72.14% |
| No | 35,131 | 27.86% |
| TOTAL | 126,108 |
Moliga released the following statement on Tuesday night:
“As the first results post for the recall election, it appears we were unsuccessful at defeating my recall. We fought hard and ran a great campaign. I want to thank the Pacific Islander community for standing up and taking on this challenge. There are many more fights ahead of us. Thank you again San Francisco it has been an honor!“
“Today San Franciscans made a clear statement: We need a Board of Education focused like a laser on stabilizing our schools, keeping them open, and supporting students and families in the most effective possible way.
“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the grassroots network of parents and other San Franciscans who worked day and night to create accountability. Your efforts have completely shifted the political dynamic in our city. More people than ever are focused on what the Board of Education is doing and who is — and who should be — serving on the Board.
“With the recall now behind us, I look forward to the Mayor making three strong appointments to the Board of Education and to all of us circling wagons around our school district to stabilize and strengthen it. The school district has my full support, and I’ll continue to support improved funding for public education in the state budget.”
Senator Scott Wiener
“The voters of this City have delivered a clear message that the School Board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else. San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well. I want to recognize all the parents who tirelessly organized and advocated in the last year. Elections can be difficult, but these parents were fighting for what matters most – their children. The days ahead for our public schools will not be easy.
There are many critical decisions in the coming months – addressing a significant budget deficit, hiring a new Superintendent, and navigating our emergence from this pandemic. These are on top of the structural issues the District has faced for years that include declining enrollment and fixing our school assignment system to better serve families and our students. The School District has a lot of work to do, and the City is ready to offer support as we all move forward. Our kids have suffered tremendously during this pandemic, dealing with serious learning loss and significant mental health challenges. It’s time we refocus our efforts on the basics of providing quality education for all students, while more broadly improving how this City delivers support for children and families.”
Mayor London Breed
“We are ready to work with Mayor Breed and the Board replacements on the tough issues facing our District. Even though billionaires and wealthy venture capitalists poured almost $2 million into the recall campaign, San Francisco voters have consistently supported public schools and expressed great admiration for our public educators. We expect any appointments to be as committed as we are to the quality public education all our students deserve. We should all be laser-focused on making our schools a place where all students thrive and teachers want to teach.
The three replacements will join the board when the District is balancing an ongoing budget deficit, unnecessarily preparing to lay off long-time dedicated educators, and choosing a new superintendent. Curiel said, “These are extraordinary times, and our students, families, and educators need board members who have a proven pro-public education track record and are up to the challenge. These are big shoes to fill, and they will be responsible for determining how much our schools will gain or lose, what programs will be saved or lost, and how these decisions will affect our students and their education.”
UESF President Cassondra Curiel
It boils down to Tuesday being the last day for school board President Gabriela Lopez to defend the board’s decision to wait to return to in-person learning only after, she says, the conditions surrounding the pandemic made it safe to do so.
“The biggest issue is the number of families who still were not ready, who still feel fear in returning to school because there were different communities who experienced the pandemic in vastly different ways and those are the communities that I was representing the most,” Lopez said.
“I am a single parent with three children, so when I was sent home to quarantine, of course, my whole family became exposed, and that wasn’t cool,” Brandese Silas said.
Brandese Silas is an SFUSD parent who opposes the recall, largely because she believes the school board made the right decision to wait until they thought it was safe.
“One because there was no vaccine for anybody to be allowed. We were unaware of all of the side effects and the conditions that it would cause,” Silas said.
Elizabeth Kelly is also an SFUSD parent but she thinks the school board waited too long to reopen schools and impacted service for her son’s special education.
“So, for an entire year, we were left on our own without the special education support that he really needed,” Kelly said.
“When kids were in zoom school they fell behind academically and that hurt the underprivileged kids the most,” Autumn Looijen said.
The two people who started the yes recall the school board campaign, Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj, say the board waited too long to return students to in-person learning.
“San Francisco was the only top 25 school district not to bring middle and high school students back the whole of last year across the entire country. Even though we had one of the lowest COVID rates and I think that set all of our kids back, especially the disadvantaged kids falling the furthest behind,” Raj said.
School Board President Lopez says that race was also a key factor in how COVID impacted parents and students differently across the district.
“Race had an influence in our healthcare system. Who was able to stay at home, who wasn’t. Who was more at risk of getting COVID during a time when we were all responding the best way we could which was staying home and staying safe,” Lopez said.
Both sides say disadvantaged students are their primary focus. Ultimately, voters will have the final say.