The school board voted to advance a neighborhood-based enrollment plan for elementary and middle schools that drew less support from parents than an alternative preserving more school choice, with staff now tasked with mapping attendance areas for a 2028 rollout.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Board of Education voted 5-2 Tuesday to advance a neighborhood-based enrollment system<\/a> that was less popular than an alternative option, as KQED reports<\/a>. Commissioners Phil Kim, Jamie Huiling, Matt Alexander, Lisa Weissman-Ward, and Parag Gupta supported the change, while Alida Fisher and Supriya Ray opposed it.<\/p>\n Under the plan, known as Option C, students entering SFUSD elementary schools in fall 2028 would first be assigned to a school near their homes. Families who accept that placement would be finished with the enrollment process, while those seeking specialized options, including language immersion programs and K-8 schools, could still apply for available seats. Admission to those programs would not be guaranteed.<\/p>\n According to KQED, the district will now be working with demographers to establish tiebreaker criteria, develop a strategic investment plan for redistributing district resources, and draw attendance boundaries. The Board of Education is expected to consider the detailed policy and investment plan in April 2027, ahead of the planned fall 2028 implementation.<\/p>\n The board chose Option C over Option B, which would also have assigned students to neighborhood schools but allowed families to apply to other campuses with available seats. Option B received more support in a district survey conducted before Tuesday’s meeting.\u00a0 Of nearly 3,000 respondents, 72% reportedly said Option B would meet their needs, compared with 48% for Option C.<\/p>\n As SFist reported previously, the district has been working on a replacement for its enrollment policy since 2018, as many families criticized the existing lottery system, introduced in 2011, for leaving them frustrated and uncertain about where their children will attend school.<\/p>\n Under the current system, students generally apply to schools through a lottery that considers family preferences and certain tiebreakers. One, known as CTIP1, gives priority to students from census tracts with the city’s lowest average test scores, after certain applicants with sibling or attendance-area priority, but it’s unclear what the new tiebreakers will be. <\/p>\n At the meeting Tuesday, parents raised concerns that narrowing school choices could disproportionately affect lower-income families and residents of southeastern neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Board members backing the change argued that the current system allows families with more time and resources to navigate the application process to seek out schools with stronger academic results or better-funded programs, while campuses in lower-income neighborhoods continue to struggle with enrollment and resources, as KQED reports.<\/p>\n Vice President Jamie Huiling said unrestricted school choice contributes to those disparities, while Commissioner Matt Alexander argued that the lottery offers an escape route to some families without resolving the underlying problems at the schools they leave behind.<\/p>\n