SFUSD Budget Uproar: Board Says No to Cuts, But Are They Still Happening?

A table titled "Budget Update" displaying the SFUSD's 2025-26 budget. It shows a beginning fund balance of $428,923,171, projected revenues of $1,291,583,412, and expenditures of $1,393,891,728, leading to a net shortfall of $102,308,316. The final ending fund balance, after accounting for a $111,501,643 Certificate of Deposit, is $215,113,212. The data is broken down into Unrestricted and Restricted categories.

At its December 16, 2026 meeting the SFUSD School Board unanimously* rejected the Fiscal Stabilization Plan (FSP) proposed by Superintendent Su. This is the first time in recent memory that we have seen this Board vote down a proposal from the Superintendent. We think our activism along with that of partners like Five Elements Youth Collective helped push the Commissioners in this direction. Public comment by dozens of amazing SFUSD students speaking out against the cuts in the FSP certainly had a big impact on the decision. 

The Fiscal Stabilization Plan (FSP) proposed closing or consolidating three school sites, eliminating school buses serving students in low income areas and reductions in positions like literacy coaches to align with the proposed Staffing Model. The Staffing Model reductions included laying off 45 Social Workers, 51 Security Guards, 15 counselors and 18 Assistant Principals. 

We went into the holiday break feeling hopeful and grateful for the work by the student and parent activists in our community. But in the first week of school we got some surprising news: Principals reported that their school site budget allocations included the cuts listed in the FSP that the board rejected before the break. It seems like Superintendent Su is ignoring the Board’s vote and all the students’ public comment at the last meeting. We will be watching closely to see how the Board, which has the power to hire and fire the Superintendent, will respond. 

*Commissioner Weissman-Ward left the meeting before this vote