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SSan Francisco

SF plans to close schools — but Mission Bay just got a new one

  • August 7, 2026

Published Aug. 6, 2026at6:16pm

There are roughly 14,000 empty seats across San Francisco Unified’s 125 campuses, and the district’s own projections show enrollment falling by another 4,600 students by 2032.

So why is SFUSD opening its first new school in a decade?

The answer, supporters say, has less to do with the district’s shrinking enrollment than with a promise made decades ago to one of San Francisco’s fastest-growing neighborhoods.

Over the past 30 years, Mission Bay has been the fastest-growing neighborhood in the city, home to a UCSF campus, the Chase Center arena, and the headquarters of tech and finance companies like OpenAI and Visa. Across the area, thousands of new homes have been built, yet the neighborhood never received the public elementary school it was promised.