San Francisco Unified School District assignment letters delayed, should arrive as early as Tuesday

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Thousands of parents are still on pins and needles in San Francisco waiting to find out which school their child will attend in the fall. That's because San Francisco Unified School District still has not sent out the student assignment letters that were supposed to go out on Friday.

It's been sheer agony for 14,000 applicants who were expecting decision letters in the mail by Saturday, but instead found out the district did not send them on Friday as planned.

San Francisco Unified put a statement on its website today that said: "We are on track to send assignment letters via first class mail on Monday evening, March 20. Families should receive letters starting on Tuesday, March 21."

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The district tells ABC7 applications were entered into the system correctly, but more double-checking was needed to ensure letters didn't go out with mistakes. A voicemail from SFUSD to parents says: "This delay is due to unforeseen staffing emergencies. SFUSD's computer system is working as designed and there's a dedicated staff team working 24-7 to get assignments finalized as quickly as possible."

"You do have parents that are applying to private schools as well as public schools and there's deadlines," said Davina Countee, parent.

Parents explain the delay in learning their public school assignment is a big deal because many private schools want an answer and a deposit by this Thursday, so they've lost valuable time deciding.

San Francisco Unified says the letters will go out tonight and no further delays are expected, and its registration deadline has been pushed back by one week to April 21.