Report on Student Survey about SFUSD Superintendent

The question “What do students think?” should be asked in all instances of education policy — especially from those in power. Ten students in San Francisco, with varying degrees of knowledge on school-board relations, were interviewed and surveyed about the superintendent: what they know, what they expect to see, and their goals for future superintendents. 

But first, what is a superintendent and who is Dr. Vincent Matthews?  A superintendent is the head of a public school district. They set long and short-term goals for the school year, oversee district finances,  communicate with the School Board, make recommendations to maintain principals/assistant principals, and oversee other district operations. As the head of the district, they would also be responsible for ensuring that the approved curriculum meets district, state, and national standards. Dr. Vincent Matthews serves as the superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District(SFUSD). One of his main priorities has been pursuing “Vision 2025: Transform Learning. Transform Lives,” a strategy to transform and update SFUSD’s curriculum and environment. He places emphasis on improving graduation and success rates for African American students in the district, and hopes to connect with all students and families.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, education policy has been at the top of many families’s minds, including new students who were not interested before. The school district and the Board of Education certainly gained a newer and broader audience and students are learning about their leadership more than ever. So what DO students think? We’ve spoken with high school students from schools around the city-- both public and private schools. Those surveyed have asked to remain anonymous. Although a survey with this sample size cannot be generalized to the full student population, key themes still emerged from these interviews. Interviewees were asked questions about what they knew about the superintendent and whether their perceptions of his efforts align with his goals.

You can read about the full survey questions and procedures here. 

Key Themes:

Overall, students are asking for transparency. 4 out of the 10 students surveyed did not know the goals and progress of the superintendent. Of these 4 students, 2 had no knowledge of Superintendent Vincent Matthews before the survey. This, in itself, is a concerning trend. In fact, several students noted that although SFUSD hired Superintendent Matthews to be “visible at school sites and be available on a regular basis,” they have not noticed that in their 10+ years in SFUSD schools. 

Most students, despite their knowledge of the superintendent, had a generally positive opinion about the superintendent: citing that he showed he cared for students through showing up at graduation and personally asked the SFUSD Student Advisory Council(SAC) for input on student-related topics multiple times this year. Some students saw the superintendent as a separate figure to the district and the Board of Education. As one student said, “He is level-headed in a sea of chaos.” However, others disagreed by saying that the district is a direct representation of his leadership and that he is not as vocal as he should be about issues like reopening and the efforts to recall several Board of Education members.

Several interviewees also noted that the “Student-Centered Vision” remained unfulfilled considering that they do not express their thoughts in outlets other than the annual SFUSD school climate survey(Note that the survey has a <30% response rate). All 10 of the students believed that there is much room for improvement, particularly in the areas of involving students, families, and even teachers in district decisions. For example, internal conversations about the new start times for schools had been occurring for months but were announced to many people for the first time last month. Interviewed students felt that they needed more transparency in a time of confusion and crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic-- but were not given it. One student mentioned that even though he attended almost all the Board of Education general meetings, he still felt like the district wasn’t interested in family and student voices. 

This is a crucial time to start talking about student’s thoughts about the superintendent because SFUSD is expected to hire a new superintendent next year(when Superintendent Matthews retires). Students should be knowledgeable about the progress that the superintendent makes not only for their own advocacy, but also because the Superintendent’s evaluation process is kept private. Students can help keep the superintendent accountable to their goals. Overall, students are just looking for more communication in both directions and look towards superintendent Matthews, and future superintendents, to lead SFUSD towards a more Student-centered district. Undoubtedly, there is much work to be done about making sure students feel heard, in addition to making the district more approachable and visible for students. 

The recommendations below are both direct ideas from the interviewed students and ideas created with inspiration from the common patterns and themes revealed in the interviews., 

1. The school district should conduct district-wide surveys to hear from students, teachers, and school-site administration/faculty about what they hope to see and experience with a new superintendent before hiring. People at the school sites on a daily basis have a crucial perspective as they experience the effects of the superintendent’s progress firsthand.

2. District representatives and/or school board members should interview representatives on the SFUSD Student Advisory Council(SAC) before hiring a new superintendent, and conducting evaluations, to get a qualitative analysis of what students are looking for in a superintendent. Although district representatives often go to the SAC for input, student voice should be more valued in the superintendent hiring process to ensure that the leader of our district is truly representative of the people he is leading.

3. The School Board should evaluate the superintendent based on:

   1. how well they have performed quantitatively with statistics on how the superintendent reduced the opportunity gap, increased graduation rates, decreased class sizes, enhanced subject proficiency, and so on;

   2. the progress of superintendents in similarly sized districts in the United States and/or past SFUSD superintendents;

   3. how well the superintendent is preparing for the next superintendent as a factor of evaluation;

   4. how well the superintendent communicates with students and families(through emails, surveys, listening sessions, etc.);

   5. Whether they make themself visible at school sites and make an effort to speak with students and teachers.

4. The school district should continue providing resources for students such as wifi hotspots, laptops, and more to ensure that education is accessible and equity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. The school district should enhance its visibility efforts and encourage students to attend and participate in Board of Education meetings through speaking in public comment. 

This report is written by Adrianna Zhang, a SFUSD student and Family for San Francisco’s fellow.