The San Francisco Unified School District says it’s cutting 205 central office positions to help address a $113 million budget deficit. Under the SFUSD’s Central Office Reduction Plan, the district would reduce central office expenditures from 25 percent to 16 percent of the total budget.
But while the SFUSD targets administrative bloat — and has promised that there will be “no layoffs to our teachers” — the plan would nonetheless hit schools. Despite being classified as central office positions, many roles slated for elimination work in schools, directly with students.
John O’Connell High School, located in the Mission District with a student body at a low income rate of nearly 75 percent, is one of those schools facing significant impact. District materials and interviews with educators indicate that the jobs of at least 64 “central office” employees who work at school sites are on the chopping block. These include a nurse and a special education teacher at O’Connell, whose contracts won’t be renewed in September.While the SFUSD has recently reversed layoffs for 151 staff members, including counselors and teacher aides, vulnerable schools like O’Connell remain affected…