Embattled SFUSD Superintendent Matt Wayne To Resign

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Superintendent Matt Wayne announced on Thursday that he will be resigning on Friday amid growing public backlash against the District’s school closure plan.

Superintendent since June 2022, Wayne took over the SFUSD as it was still transitioning back from COVID restrictions and was still continuing to grow a massive deficit. During his 26 month tenure, the situation with the SFUSD grew worse, with the deficit climbing to $421 million, the District slashing 927 vacant positions, and a growing number of cutbacks. All the while, school closures became an increasing possibility, with the District finally announcing in March that some closures would be happening in 2025.

However, things reached a crisis point in May when the California Department of Education announced that they would be sending fiscal advisors to look over some financial decisions by the district, essentially taking control of district spending. With no way to quickly confront the $421 million deficit issue, the SFUSD soon began paring down the schools. Last week, the long dreaded news came, with a proposed plan for the 2025-2026 school year that would close three schools, have eight merged into others, and have two becoming a welcoming school for closed schools. In addition, over 500 teaching jobs are to be cut, with another $113 million to be cut out of the school budget.

“In the end, our resources are stretched way too thin and no matter what, we have to reduce our expenditures next year. And so we’re trying to figure out the way which serves our students best and that includes closing or merging some schools,” said Wayne last week.

In the past week, parents, students, school workers, and lawmakers have lambasted the decision to close or merge so many schools, despite the decision solving a large part of the deficit and curtailing the number of schools amidst a declining student population.

On Tuesday, Mayor London Breed even joined the fray, calling for the district to halt the closure plans. This action only brought more pressure to the embattled Wayne, who on Thursday, announced that he would be resigning on Friday.

Wayne out

While Wayne did not give a statement on Thursday, the Mayor’s office did, saying, “This is a personnel matter before the Board of Education. During this very difficult time for families and students, the Mayor remains committed to supporting San Francisco Unified with resources and staffing as she has with her School Stabilization Team. Our public schools cannot fail. The most important thing right now is to maintain local control by balancing the District’s budget, while ensuring that our schools deliver services and programs critical to student success.”

Wayne’s resignation isn’t a done deal yet. He is to go before the San Francisco Board of Education on Friday to make it official when they vote on his negotiated settlement package. However, for all intents and purposes, he is likely to be gone by the end of Friday.

“Whoever got the job in 2022 faced an almost insurmountable task,” explained political advisor Sharon Lee to the Globe on Thursday. “And, honestly, as much as the deficit grew under him, he tried to find solutions. Wayne put together a plan of closures and layoffs. It was going to be unpopular no matter what. Any plan was. And now he is getting flak and resigning now for trying to get this as a solution.

“Breed and others don’t want to face facts that the SFUSD will need to shrink down at some point. Detroit, St. Louis, Buffalo, and so many others had to face painful school cuts and closures in years past because of declining enrollment and the budget just not being there. San Francisco is trying to be in their own world with this. Wayne, for all his faults as Superintendent, and he had them, finally gave a solution. So now San Francisco is kind of screwed. They aren’t putting kids first.”

The Board is set to vote on Wayne’s resignation on Friday.