With voters recalling three school board members during Tuesday's elections, Mayor London Breed He said the next day that he would seek three new San Francisco school board commissioners, who would be named in the coming weeks.
According to the most recent results from the San Francisco Elections Department, voters overwhelmingly voted to recall Board of Education Commissioner Alison Collins, Board President Gabriela Lopez, and Board Vice President Faauuga Moliga.
Thus, 79 percent voted to remove Collin, 75 percent for López and 72 percent for Moliga.
During a briefing Wednesday at City Hall, Breed said that after all the votes are counted, the city Board of Supervisors will certify the results. That means that within three to four weeks, the retired commissioners will be required to leave their posts within 10 days.
During this process, Breed will interview potential candidates to replace the new San Francisco school board commissioners.
“In selecting new school board members, we’re going to be asking a lot of very tough questions,” she said. “We’re going to be looking for well-rounded school board members who are focused on schools. Who are focused on our kids and their success. Who are focused on collaboration and working together. Who are focused on wanting to hear from different perspectives, whether you agree with those perspectives or not.”
Breed said he has been speaking with parents as well as San Francisco United Educators, the union that represents teachers in the Unified School District, as he prepares to schedule his appointments.
The recall campaign was made up of more than a thousand volunteers including parents, educators and other residents.
The recall effort gained support, in part, due to dissatisfaction over the prolonged closure of San Francisco Unified School District schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials with United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) alleged Wednesday that the recall effort was funded by outside sources as part of a political movement. Breed denied the allegations.
“This isn’t about politics,” she said. “We’re not saying that what was happening in schools wasn’t an important conversation. I definitely think renaming schools and looking at the history of some of these names is important, but the issue was clear communication about when schools would open and the process of distance learning.”
"This came from parents who were upset, frustrated and stressed, and in many cases trying to work two or three jobs to take care of their children. Single mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers. This, from my perspective, is not about politics," he added.
Breed also said he disagreed with a separate June ballot initiative approved Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors that would ask voters to extend the time frame in which elected officials are not eligible to be recalled from six months in office to 12 months, among other provisions related to the settlements.
“I think it’s the wrong message right now,” she said. “These people (recall organizers) worked very hard. This was a grassroots effort. I think people, if they have any concerns with any elected leader, should have the right to bring a recall effort to a vote.”
While UESF advocated against the recall, in a statement, the organization's president, Cassandra Curiel, said the union will work with Breed as she makes her appointments to new San Francisco school board commissioners.
"Although billionaires and wealthy venture capitalists invested nearly $2 million in the recall campaign, San Francisco voters have always supported public schools and have expressed great admiration for our public educators," Curiel said.
"These are big shoes to fill, and they will be responsible for determining how much our schools will gain or lose, what programs will be saved or lost, and how these decisions will affect our students and their education," she stressed.
The withdrawal comes as the district faces a budget shortfall of more than $100 million for the next fiscal year, prompting intervention by the California Department of Education.
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