The High School Task Force: A Letter from one of our own
Pink background with words The High School Task Force and group of students.
Dear fellow parents /community,
Have you heard about the High School Task Force?
It is a committee that was put together to gather information from the SFUSD community to understand what is wanted and needed from SFUSD high schools. The first step is understanding the high school's offerings and student outcomes.
The committee consists of 26 people: parents, students, educators, and community leaders.
The committee meets monthly for a year; they have met three times so far. The public can provide public comments. Ultimately the goal of the High School Task Force is to provide recommendations to the district that received diverse community input.
As a parent of a child that will start High School next school year, I am personally interested in how the district will foster trust with families to listen to needs and ideas and follow through with the implementation of the community recommendations.
I am very interested in being and part of the community giving recommendations to the district as a parent and educator. I am interested in every child in the district’s benefit because every child deserves a space to dream and engage with learning where dreams can be a reality. Most of the parents I know or have spoken to are calling for diverse community outreach activities. The parents that I have heard from have shared feelings of fear of the impact on school programs, such as; further separation of communities, closures, and continued resource inequities.
As an organization, we are looking at this from an inquiry perspective. Using the information known about the Task Force as a starting point, our Community Development team collected and analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data.
What was found was eye-opening.
The High School Task Force consists of 11* parents and caregivers with a median annual income between 128k and 172k**. According to the AY 21-22*** district enrollment, 52.3% of students and families are socioeconomically disadvantaged*.
This information makes us wonder:
Who are the community members that will participate in the community engagement sessions?
How will the district make sure community input is done in an equitable way?
Will the district make sure to get a diverse group of district community members’ input?
Will our families that are historically ignored be heard; such as, our low-income, special needs, Black, Brown, Indigenous, Filipino and Pacific islander families?
Will they be allowed to recommend, and what is the likelihood that their recommendations be included in the strategy to strengthen student outcomes?
How will the community hold the Board accountable for the work done?
I hope the saying “past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior” does not apply in this situation. All the reason, we as a parent community must get involved and share our needs.
Best,
Dorothy
Community Development Officer
Data Source:
*San Francisco Unified School District: https://www.sfusd.edu/schools/schools-and-community/high-school-task-force#high-schooltaskforcemembershipoverview
** United States Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/sanfranciscocitycalifornia
*** California Department of Education, DataQuest Dashboard: https://www.caschooldashboard.org/reports/38684780000000/2022