SF school district cancels all teacher layoffs

SAN FRANCISCO - Teachers in the San Francisco Unified School District received some good news this week, announcing there will be fewer cuts than the district originally planned to solve its budget deficit. 

The district issued preliminary layoff notices to 395 teachers just last month.

But the school board now says that a strong response to its early retirement incentive has made way for the district to cancel all the teacher layoffs.

A total of 143 teacher aides are still facing potential job losses as well as 34 counselors, but the district says it remains hopeful that layoffs will not be necessary.

SFUSD has had a tumultuous year.

Former Supt. Matt Wayne resigned not long after the district announced potential school closures or consolidation plans.

Maria Su was confirmed to replace Wayne in December, and her first priority has been to get the district’s budget back on track. 

She says the current cuts the district is facing are tough but necessary. 

"We can only get there by being a fiscally solvent district," Su said at a school board meeting, "so that we can make plans for our students’ success. We can only get there by being a financially solvent district.

Su says the goal for financial solvency is key for the city’s ability to maintain local control over the district and avoid a full state takeover. 

The district received a negative certification for its budget last May. That’s when the State of California escalated oversight from its fiscal advisors. 

SFUSD says that those fiscal advisors do have the authority to override decisions made by the district's school board if they feel it isn’t meeting its financial goals.