New San Francisco Unified Superintendent Dr. Maria Su details plans to save the school district and address the budget deficit

SAN FRANCICO (KGO) — A new leader is set to take the reins of the San Francisco Unified School District following the resignation of Dr. Matt Wayne last Friday. The school board will formally appoint Dr. Maria Su during its meeting on Tuesday.

ABC7 News reporter Leanne Melendez sat down with Dr. Soo to talk about her vision and how she plans to close their massive budget deficit.

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Lianna: “I have to address the elephant in the room. You’ve never been a teacher, you’ve never led a school district. What qualifies you to lead the sixth largest school district in California?”
Dr. Maria Su: “I understand that there are concerns about whether I know how to create a curriculum or implement training. You know what? This is not part of the work I do. My job is to ensure a balanced budget. so that San Francisco Public Schools can maintain local control.”

Although Su is an outsider in the school district, she is highly regarded throughout the city for her years of service in the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Her involvement with SFUSD came at the request of Mayor London Breed three weeks ago when the district asked the city to help address its financial crisis. Su became co-leader of the city’s school stabilization team.

MORE: Where did it go wrong? Here’s how San Francisco Unified’s problems led to school closures

School closures

Lianna: “When the now-former superintendent announced school closures, what made you decide it wasn’t a good idea at this time?”
Sun: “I feel like we promised our families and the school community that we would have some clear information and some clear data and we were going to talk to them about what was happening, when things were going to happen, and more importantly how they were going to happen.” will happen, it seems to me that we did not do any of this.”
Lianna: “So the possibility of closing schools is still on the table, but not in 2025?”
Sun: “The San Francisco Unified School District has seen declining enrollment in recent years. We’ll have to deal with that eventually, but I don’t want to focus on that this year.”

Budget deficit

Lianna: “How are you going to close this huge budget deficit?”
Sun: “On day one, I’ll roll up my sleeve and work really hard to look under the hood and figure out what’s going on. We have some very difficult decisions to make.”

Parents’ problems

Lianna: “Right now, a lot of parents have lost faith in the school district. What should they hear from you?
Sun: “I promise all of our families, our staff, that I will communicate clearly, that I will keep everyone involved in what we are going to do, and secondly, continue to build discipline to tighten our belts on spending. I believe this is what will get us to the point where we can produce a balanced budget in December.”

SFUSD is scheduled to submit its first balanced interim budget report on Dec. 15 to avoid a state takeover.