SFUSD returns with teacher vacancies and looming school closures. Here's what parents should know

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- School is back in session for tens of thousands of students at San Francisco Unified and it could be a year of transition and change for many at the district.

Looming school closures are certain to be on a lot of minds at the start of this school year.

Due to declining enrollment, SFUSD is moving ahead with plans to close a number of schools.

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They haven't said how many but a recommended list will be released by September 18.

The executive director of the non-profit Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco says historically, when there are school closures, research shows there is a displacement of students of color.

SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne says they're making sure as they develop their plan so that they don't disproportionately impact any one community. The school board is expected to vote on the recommended list of school closures by December 10.

"Part of this will be changing our enrollment policy to also establish more neighborhood schools and we're making sure that families will have a choice near where they live to send their students to schools and ultimately, it will mean more resources at each school by having fewer schools that their student will be able to take advantage of," Dr. Wayne said.

This comes as the district is dealing with about 120 teacher vacancies and the San Francisco Examiner reports the district is now in a hiring freeze. They can hire for essential staff needed to keep a school running, but that's it.

"We're working hard to make sure all of our classrooms have permanent classroom teachers," Dr. Wayne said. "We're covering classrooms today where we have vacancies. We're in a better place than we were last year. But we know we still have work to do to ensure that we fully staffed."

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Despite this, there's still excitement about the first day as the district will welcome back 50,000 students to schools today.

"I'm excited to come back to a district that is so focused on improving student outcomes," Dr. Wayne said. "We have our goals for third-grade literacy, eighth-grade math and college and career readiness and we really made progress towards those goals."

Former Warriors player and sports commentator Festus Ezeli was on hand at Tule Elk Park Early Education School in San Francisco to give students a special message.

"Have fun because school is meant to be fun," Ezili said. "As someone who has educators as parents I know how important this whole process is so thank you to the teachers as well. Let's have a great year."

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Principal Nancy Lambert-Campbell gave ABC7 News a tour of Tule Elk.

"We are very excited to kick off our third year in this building with these renovations due to the bond program," Lambert-Campbell said.

If you have kids in SFUSD, there are a couple of things you can keep in mind this year.

If your kids need to take public transit, Muni will be running its free fare program again. Students under 19 years old can ride for free, and in the afternoon buses will meet students at some of the cities biggest middle and high schools.

All students will get free school meals this year thanks to the organization California Meals for All.

The district has also announced a new way to report your child's absence with an app called ParentVUE.