Published Aug. 18, 2026at3:04pm
Elliot Fara has a goal to watch every episode of “The Simpsons.” Much to the chagrin of his mother, Tami, the eighth grader has been making major progress this week from the living room couch.
While Elliot’s friends are engaging in banter and baseball tryouts at Presidio Middle School, he is on the waitlist, hoping a spot opens up for him at the school.
Tami feels she is out of options. The only public school with an open eighth-grade seat is in Visitacion Valley, an hour by bus from their home on 32nd Avenue in the Sunset. Nearby private schools, she says, are full. “As a parent, I am completely stuck,” she said Tuesday morning. “I have no other options.”
Elliot’s predicament is a product of the way the San Francisco Unified School District assigns students to schools. Rather than being assigned based on where they live, families in the district tour and rank schools across the city.