Happy Friday UESF members and I hope your parent conferences went well. Strong relationships with families permits our students to grow. My name is Geri Almanza and I am the Treasurer of UESF. Along with managing your dues and tracking our budget, I am also the UESF’s representative to the District Advisory Committee (DAC).
Since January, the committee has been involved in reviewing District data from property development, to elementary to high school funding and soon, the central office reorganizing plan. As UESF’s representative, I have made it clear that next year SFUSD must start the year fully staffed and that there must be clear protocols and standards in place across all school sites and programs so there can be high expectations and accountability for District management. The new budget formulas are a step in the right direction allowing the union to finally track what areas of work our members are responsible for, what services should be offered to students and which administrator or supervisor is accountable for achieving outcomes.
The side letter agreement to move up the consolidation and placement timeline will allow our beloved colleagues expertise will be valued by opening the timeline window for people to make the best choices for them and their community. And of course this ensures the District is responsible for fully staffing schools before next year even begins.
UESF is relentless in our fight to win the schools our students deserve. Next year, TK will be expanding to 15 new classrooms bringing new students to the already popular TK program. We know there is a lot of potential for expanding our amazing programs to welcome a whole new generation of families into our school communities.
I encourage you to stay actively engaged in the budget process, you and your school community know how best to meet student and family needs. Keeping the process open and transparent is the only way to ensure all are fully involved. Together we will win the schools our students deserve!
