SFUSD narrowed its options for replacing the citywide school choice lottery from three to two at Tuesday’s meeting, eliminating Option A, which would have guaranteed families a seat at one of three to five schools in a small zone.
Both remaining options guarantee a neighborhood-school seat. Under B, that applies to families who apply on time, and they could also apply to any school in the city. Under C, the guarantee holds even for late applicants, but applications beyond the neighborhood school would be limited to citywide programs.
None of the options would eliminate school choice entirely. The board will vote Oct. 13 on whether to move forward with B or C and is scheduled to adopt a policy in April.
The district has been trying to replace its assignment lottery since 2018, but Tuesday’s meeting suggested 2026 won’t be the year it gets easy. Commissioners raised doubts about the options, and public commenters urged the board to slow down so students aren’t stuck at neighborhood schools short on special education and language-immersion programs.
Option B drew the most contentious debate among board members. Commissioners worried that families in the southeast would keep leaving their neighborhood schools for open seats elsewhere, leaving those schools under-enrolled.
Commissioner Supryia Ray was concerned that Option B would not differ from the current lottery in ways that matter. She argued that the lottery stops many families from considering SFUSD at all. “They don’t want to gamble with their kids’ education,” Ray said. A true guarantee of a seat “would make a difference psychologically,” she added, though she noted that many families have also said they want to keep the ability to choose another school.
Commissioner Alida Fisher said the system needs to change but that she is “highly, highly skeptical of anything just based on our track record.” She said holding these discussions without addressing special education was “frankly discriminatory” and potentially “illegal.”
Staff were blunt about Option A. The district’s enrollment team has shrunk from 30 people to 16, staff told the board, and implementing it would be “a really big lift for a really small team.”
The board dropped Option A even though it rated highest in a recent district survey of more than 2,700 families, including some not in SFUSD. Seventy-three percent said A was likely to meet their needs, compared with 71% for B and 48% for C.
Public comment was intense. Several speakers said the proposals could deepen inequities and urged the board to delay the Oct. 13 decision. Some opposed changing the lottery before schools get more funding and support. Others asked for an equity analysis and more meaningful engagement with families.
Roberto Guzman, a Guadalupe Elementary parent, told the board, “A new boundary doesn’t create a better school.” Blanca Catalan, a parent organizer with Coleman Advocates, said, “Location alone does not guarantee equity.”
Lisa Swan, the parent of a second grader at Daniel Webster Elementary, asked the board to define the problem it is trying to solve before next week’s vote. She said families have heard competing reasons for the overhaul: making the lottery more predictable, taking choice away from low-income families, increasing enrollment and bringing back neighborhood schools.
Both options would require program changes. Staff found 12 of 58 attendance areas short by 10 or more general-education seats and said that estimate may be low. Closing the gap could mean moving language-program seats or converting two to three citywide K-8 schools into neighborhood schools that may serve students only through fifth grade. Superintendent Maria Su said language seats would be relocated, not cut.
On Oct. 13, the board is scheduled to pick one option for staff to develop into a full policy that includes new attendance boundaries and decisions about where certain programs are located.
The board is scheduled to adopt the final policy April 13, 2027. Families would apply under the new system in fall 2027, and it would take effect for students entering school in August 2028.