SFUSD School Board Recall Election 2022
Ahead of this formal report, our organization's leadership concluded that Commissioners Allison Collins and Gabriela Lopez should no longer serve on the Board of Education.
Our organization considers serving as a School Board Commissioner to be a privilege and sacred duty to serve our city's public school children and families as this body wields enormous power over the lives of roughly 50,000 SFUSD students. These individuals govern our district, have fiduciary responsibility over nearly $1 billion in annual spending, and ultimately the success or failure of SFUSD is in their hands. Strong leadership by our School Board Commissioners is critical to the functioning and quality of our public schools.
Commissioner Alison Collins
1. Did she keep student learning and achievement as its primary focus?
Voted no on reopening consultant
In June, 2020 Superintendent Matthews sought approval from the Board to spend up to $93,000 from a private grant to hire a consultant to create a reopening plan. Commissioner Collins joined other members in voting against the recommendation, saying it would have "wasted money and is work that central office leaders should be directly involved in." Matthews told the board in June when it rebuffed his idea that he had no backup plan and the rejection would be "a body blow."
Didn't list safely reopening schools as one of her priorities during Board retreat in January 2021
Despite months of evidence that schools could operate safely during COVID-19 including SFDPH protocol that encouraged schools to reopen, and despite mounting reports of how distance learning was harming students, when asked to list her top two priorities in January of 2021, Commissioner Collins made no mention of safely reopening schools.
Has not acknowledged plans to address learning loss including widening learning gaps
On March 16th, 2021, Commissioner Collins requested that the SFUSD Chief of Research, Planning & Assessments stop using the term "learning loss" and instead use the phrase, "learning change."
2. Did she set the district budget and manage the district's finances responsibly?
Lack of fiscal responsibility that pushed the district into crisis
As vice president of the board, and as budget committee chair, failed to provide financial oversight jeopardizing the quality education of responsibility to ensure 50,000+ students have a quality education. The Board has been asked for over a year for a plan to reduce costs and address a structural deficit, but Commissioner Collins ignored the request and the warnings, refused to make needed cuts, and pushed SFUSD into downgraded financial ratings and potential state receivership.
Sued the district and fellow commissioners (except Lopez) for $87MM
Collins attempted to strip SFUSD and students of millions of dollars via her $87 million lawsuit against the school district, an action which President Lopez supported. This lawsuit was tossed out of court by a federal judge who determined that the suit was meritless. At the time when schools were still closed and the district was headed quickly down a path of financial crisis, the harm to students by such an action was unconscionable.
Misleading resolutions and poor voting choices prioritizing political gain over sound policy
In August 2021, during a period when the recall effort was mounting signatures against her, Collins was eager to improve her public perception. She co-authored a resolution with Commissioner López that was both fiscally irresponsible and a departure from the guidance of public health experts.
She voted to continue to use resources to appeal a lawsuit the district resoundingly lost to cover up the Washington murals just hours after being advised by California Department of Education officials and its fiscal consultant to refrain on new spending for activities not directly benefiting students.
3. Did she govern professionally, according to the standards set out in its official Rules and Procedures?
Repeatedly neglected to follow required procedures
Did not properly public notice meeting topics and decisions, and failed to acknowledge or fix these failures despite public and legal requests to do so. Commissioner Collins co-authored a resolution striking down merit-based admissions at Lowell, subsequently determined to hold no merit because of the lack of clear or adequate noticing. Lowell's enrollment process now remains uncertain due to commissioners' unwillingness to engage with the public in a legally adequate manner.
4. Did she listen to, and incorporate, perspectives from the Community in setting Board policy?
Co-authored Ethnic Studies resolution with important effects on curriculum
In 2019, Commissioner Collins co-authored and helped pass an important resolution, "Equity Studies to Implement Humanizing Learning Experiences for All Students," which committed SFUSD to centering its curriculum around decolonizing and anti-oppressive pedagogy and a humanizing framework for teaching students based on self-love and knowledge, solidarity between communities, and self-determination.
Worked for increased resources for mental health and wellness
In 2019, Commissioner Collins co-sponsored with Commissioners Lam and Moliga the Our Health Our Hands resolution, which led to increased resources for mental health and wellness services for SFUSD students particularly from Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Failed to support Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in their asks and doubled down on her racist tweets
Following Collins's Twitter thread, she further let down the Asian American and Pacific Islander community by failing to apologize and not meeting their requests that could have illustrated her commitment to supporting their communities.
Disregarded and regularly demonstrated lack of respect towards constituents.
Called parents racist, made false accusations against student journalists, repeatedly ignored family concerns that differed from her own political positions and personal beliefs, and entered a private parenting forum on social media (Facebook) only to condemn and vilify parents for trying to solve for their own working/child care needs during a pandemic.
5. Did she make prudent personnel decisions that enable the District to perform effectively?
Moved school appointments to closed sessions and has been accused of orchestrating the termination and targeting of multiple SFUSD staff.
Staff have repeatedly expressed fear of Commissioner Collins including current and former, some of whom say she destroyed their career and ruined their lives.
Superintendent Matthews stipulated special terms to stay on with the district including that the board refrain from making personnel decisions in closed session, though Collins continued to try to move these decisions off the consent calendar and weigh in closely on them.
Bullied and micromanaged SFUSD staff
Made frequent and regular requests of staff that went far beyond what was appropriate of a school board commissioner. Regularly drafted resolutions which made granular, micromanaging requirements of staff, undermining the work they were already doing to keep our kids and educators safe and in school.
Commissioner Gabriela López
1. Did she keep student learning and achievement as primary focus?
Voted no on reopening consultant
In June, 2020 Superintendent Matthews sought approval from the Board to spend up to $93,000 from a private grant to hire a consultant to create a reopening plan. Matthews told the board in June when it rebuffed his idea that he had no backup plan and the rejection would be "a body blow." López offered to do the research herself but failed to follow through.
Prioritized school renaming over school reopening
Despite months of evidence that schools could operate safely during COVID-19 including SFDPH protocol that encouraged schools to reopen, and despite mounting reports of how distance learning was harming students, when asked to list her top two priorities in January of 2021, Commissioner López made no mention of safely reopening schools. Instead, around the same time, she was advancing a historically inaccurate school renaming process though she would not commit to a plan to reopen those schools for our children.
Maintains position that school closures were not bad for kids
President López still has not acknowledged learning loss including widening learning gaps as a result of prolonged distance learning. In a meeting and in a public interview, she said that students' experiences were just "different" and they were learning about culture from families.
Failed to prioritize safe reopening on Board agendas for months during school closures. Forced families to wait for hours before school reopening plans were discussed. Limited public comment and showed visible irritation towards parents expressing frustration, concern, or despair about the effects of distance learning on their children.
Under Lopez's leadership as Board President, SFUSD was sued by the City and County of SF for failure to prioritize its students' needs or take meaningful steps to return to in-person learning.
2. Did she set the district budget and manage the district's finances responsibly?
Failure as president to provide financial oversight
As president of the board failed to provide in financial oversight jeopardizing the quality education of responsibility to ensure 50,000+ students have a quality education-- The Board has been asked for nearly two years for a plan to reduce costs and address a structural deficit, but Commissioner López ignored the request and the warnings, refused to make needed cuts, and pushed SFUSD into threat of receivership and downgraded financial ratings. In December 2021 when at the brink of state takeover, she took the lone position voting against a critically important budget balancing plan despite the real threat of state takeover.
Misleading resolutions prioritizing political gain over students and budget
In August 2021, during a period when the recall effort was mounting signatures against her, Lopez was eager to improve her public perception. She co-authored a resolution with Collins that was a complete departure from guidance of public health experts; it could have unnecessarily closed schools and sent kids back into remote learning again. It also had huge financial ramifications that were not considered.
3. Did she govern professionally, according to the standards set out in its official Rules and Procedures?
Governed with bias
During the 400 days of remote learning, Lopez failed to prioritize reopening, keeping it at the bottom of Board agendas until spring 2021; parents and community members waiting on the line would often wait more than 4 hours to speak during public comment.
Manipulated public comment to minimize views that opposed her own
During the BoE March 25, 2021, more than 1000 callers dialed in to give public comment about Collins' anti-Asian tweets. President Lopez gave 20 minutes to "each side" (for and against Collins) to comment, though it was clear where the majority of families and the community stood-- even almost every elected official in San Francisco called on Collins to resign. Another example of her bias in discussion and public comment, transcript and video here.
Consistently supported Collins on decisions that hurt the district:
Voted to support Collins against the rest of the board that voted to remove her from her VP and other roles on the board following Collins' racist tweets and $87MM dollar lawsuit against the district and fellow Commissioners. Allowed this vote to include Collins, which is irregular vs. having Collins recuse herself for a vote that was about her.
Track record of violating process and protocol:
President Lopez does not follow due process, frequently suggests amendments without proper notification to the public, to legal counsel, or translation for families who speak a language other than English. These repeated violations of board policy have resulted in lawsuits and costs to our district, taking away money from our students.
4. Did she listen to, and incorporate, perspectives from the community in setting Board policy?
Co-authored the Ethnic Studies resolution and graduation requirement
This resolution advanced our existing Ethnic Studies program at SFUSD, whereby students learn a more robust historical narrative that centers on the perspectives of historically marginalized communities. It offers a compelling way to examine race, ethnicity, nationality and culture in the United States, and is an important piece of our district's commitment to equity and social justice and the diverse populations served by the City's public schools.
Incorporated learnings from Latinx community during pandemic into reopening plans
Worked to include lessons learned from the Latino Health Task Force's COVID response success with the Latinx community when working towards reopening SFUSD's schools for in-person learning.
Humiliated parent advocates
Chaired the meeting where a parent volunteer's (Seth Brenzel) nomination was tabled. Mr. Brenzel was ignored the entire meeting and eventually rejected for the role on the basis of his race. See transcripts.
Frequently disrespectful towards constituents
Below are select tweets and articles in which Lopez has been disrespectful and disdainful towards parents in the SFUSD community:
- "I mean this sincerely, [middle finger]" (Oct 2020, after Lowell admission process meeting, while schools were still closed)
- "Nobody asked you to be here." (Dec 2020, in response to parent advocate speaking up about prolonged school closures and impact on enrollment)
- "I'm like, then leave." (July 4th 2021 with no school reopening plan in place)
- "Presumptuous parents." (Dec 2021, in response to parent criticism of flawed alternate budget proposal that was similarly criticized by state fiscal team).
- "White privilege at its finest." (Aug 2020, her reply to an op-ed by a parent and candidate for the board, dismissing her article and reopening concerns)
5. Did she make prudent personnel decisions that enable the District to perform effectively?
Voted against contract renewals for multiple key roles
Voted along with Collins and Moliga, against contract renewals for multiple key roles.
Excessive and granular resolutions
Regularly drafted resolutions which made granular, micromanaging requirements of staff, undermining the work they were already doing to keep our kids and educators safe and in school.
Commissioner Faauuga Moliga
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Did he keep student learning and achievement as his primary focus?
Authored the important coordinated care resolution
A critically important thing Moliga did for students during the pandemic was to author and promote the coordinated care resolution. This was an ambitious plan passed by the School Board and which created a city-wide wellness check system for all public school students and families across the district. This resolution was praised by the CDC and also has become the core element of middle school mental wellness redesign.
Voted no on reopening consultant
In June, 2020 Superintendent Matthews sought approval from the Board to spend up to $93,000 from a private grant to hire a consultant to create a reopening plan. Moliga joined other commissioners in voting no on the consultant. Matthews told the board in June when it rebuffed his idea that he had no backup plan and the rejection would be "a body blow."
Prioritized school renaming over school reopening
Though Commissioner Moliga did call for public schools to open as soon as they were safe for students and staff, the push was not soon or hard enough to have a true impact on reopening when it was needed. And instead, around the same time when parents were begging for schools to open, he joined other commissioners in advancing a historically inaccurate school renaming process though those school buildings remained closed to our children.
Samoan immersion program and City College Pathway
Moliga helped expand learning opportunities for Pacific Islander students including the very first pre-k Samoan immersion program, and a series of pilot programs that make up a Pre-K to City College of San Francisco pathway for Pacific Islander students.
2. Did he set the district budget and manage the district's finances responsibly?
Avoided ideological governance in favor of responsible governance
Raised concerns about the fiscal implications of new resolutions introduced by Commissioners Collins and López during fall 2021, and about Commissioner Alexander's suggestion to place an illogical hold on bond monies.
Worked towards real solutions to increase enrollment and revenue
He authored a resolution to open an enrollment center in southeast San Francisco.
3. Did he govern professionally, according to the standards set out in its official Rules and Procedures?
Follows process and seeks counsel when appropriate
Since spring 2021, regularly asks for clarity when other school board members suggest amendments, and utilizes legal counsel for a clear and appropriate process.
4. Listen to, and incorporate, perspectives from the Community in setting Board policy
Affordable Housing for Teachers
Authored a resolution to build more housing for teachers to help address the cost of living in San Francisco and make it a more affordable place for our teachers to work and live.
Listening to Families
Began listening to more families when he understood the full extent of the distrust in the district and the School Board this spring 2021. Has been holding monthly public meetings with families at school sites since the spring to connect with and hear from families. Regularly outreaches to parents, educators, and community and exhibits a willingness to listen to and learn from a wide array of perspectives, since April 2021.
5. Did he make prudent personnel decisions that enable the District to perform effectively?
Voted against contract renewals for multiple key roles
Voted along with Collins and Lopez, against contract renewals for multiple key roles.
Recommendation: Gross Malfeasance and a Complete Dereliction of Duty Warrants Recall of Commissioners Alison Collins and Gabriela López
There were many issues and problems with the actions and behaviors of the three SFUSD Board of Education Commissioners on the recall ballot, as described above.
Our organization does not take a recommendation of recalling elected officials lightly and we believe doing so is only warranted in cases of gross malfeasance and a complete and utter dereliction of duty. In the cases of Commissioner Alison Collins and Commissioner Gabriela López, we believe the level of their malfeasance and dereliction of duty warrants recall from public office.