San Francisco supervisor wants city to pay for recall of school board
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco supervisor plans to announce legislation Tuesday that would make the city pay for the anticipated recall election of three San Francisco Unified School District board members.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman says the school district can't afford the $8 million the recall is expected to cost.
SFUSD President Gabriela Lopez, Vice President Alison Collins, and Commissioner Faauuga Moliga are all the subject of the recall effort.
Organizers who support the recall say the effort began amidst what they call the botched effort to return students to school for in-person instruction. But the reasons have only grown for why they say they want to see new leadership for San Francisco schools and point to what they call a looming annual budget crisis.
Three San Francisco school board members may face recall
Backers of an effort to have three San Francisco Unified School District board members recalled say they have reached the 70,000 signatures needed to get a recall election to make the ballot. Recall supporters say the effort began amidst what they call a botched effort to return students to school for in-person instruction during the pandemic.
Mayor London Breed would support the city footing the bill so the funds don't come out of school district money, the mayor's office told KTVU.
If the recall makes the ballot, it is expected to take place in mid-February 2022.
Funding the recall election comes at a time that city officials, including Breed have been highly critical of the how school board members run the district. One of the main concerns was about the slow pace of reopening city schools to in-person learning for students.
Breed and others had chided the district for focusing energy on a renaming project for dozens of schools, including ones named for George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other historical figures.
The city attorney even sued the district to try and force the reopening of classrooms.