Announcement on SFUSD School Board Member

I'm San Francisco mayor London breed and I'm fresh back from the excitement and energy from Chicago Illinois so I think my voice is is pretty much I don't know where it is but I'm going to do my best today and really want to thank each and every one of you for coming here today um we are here and I appreciate members of the Board of Supervisors as well as Senator Scott Weiner and uh members of the school board folks who are joining us here today um I just want to start by um really thanking Lany mat matam um for her hard work and her commitment you know in 2022 the people of San Francisco wanted to see change on the school board and they wanted the priority to be about about our children and there was a real uh call for for that change and when I had uh in the past conducted interviews and and went through the process we went through uh seeking input from a number of stakeholders uh we made the decision to appoint three moms uh to the school board people who had uh intense experience and an opportunity to bring substantive change and Laney was one of those people and what I am most proud of the work that she did to bring civility uh to the school board in the discussions to focus on putting our kids first the work she did around algebra the payroll system uh and good governance I mean the work that she did was really about making sure that the administrative structure of the school district was intact in order to allow the school district to focus on our most precious assets our kids and that work is hard and I want to appreciate all of our teachers our Educators and and the people who show up to work day in and day out I want to appreciate our parents for their work and their advocacy and thank them because what Laney did was bring people together to do this incredibly important work and I want to appreciate you for all that you've done and for really this moment recognizing that as much as you want to continue to do this work you have to put the kids first and I know it's not easy and I appreciate that your willingness to make that decision and say I can't give it 100% what it deserves to be given it is exactly what we saw happen with our president where he basically said I can't give it my 100% and move this country forward and it is really one of the highest acts of being a true honorable public servant so as hard as it is stepping out and saying you know I want the kids to have the very best that's what you're doing here today and we are grateful for your service we are proud of what you've done and so you can continue to hold your head up high as you move forward to do what's necessary to take care of yourself and your family and in fact in doing so you are taking care of the kids of this school district so I want to thank you ladies and gentlemen Laney mataman thank you so much thank you for understanding always always always a tough act to follow mayor breed um so as you may have heard I have made the difficult decision to step down due to my personal circumstances my immediate priority needs to be my health and my family and while I believe this to be a setback I truly am unable to give this role the attention it deserves and I simply care too much about our kids and about the functioning of our school district to not give it my whole self um I want to be clear well and for those who know me you know that I don't do things halfway and I couldn't with clear conscious step back in any other way than to to to pave the way for someone to step forward who could so fully step into this role um I want to be clear that I while I'm taking my time I am not done contributing to the city I love the city I love the school district I I am proud for what we have accomplished together over the last two and a half years it's truly truly been an honor to serve on behalf of our students and families to make much needed and sometimes frankly oftentimes difficult decisions to improve our school district while there is much work ahead I can confidently say that I'm leaving the district better off than I found it every decision every decision I have made has been for the benefit of our kids and their future I've done a lot of reflecting and um turning back the clock just a little bit and just bear with me because you probably won't be seeing me for a a while um so um when mayor breed appointed me to this board it was on the heels of the recall it was in the aftermath of sfusd being shuttered for longer than nearly any other school district in the country and our Educators were staging a multi-day sleep in in protest in the district office because they weren't getting paid correctly it was really really rough the previous board's behavior and governance failures were obvious to all and they resulted in state oversight of the district I knew the board needed to focus on educating kids and paying the bills and we had to immediately address the previous leadership's failure to successfully run our schools and so I am so proud of the accomplishments that I made alongside with my colleagues alongside with my colleagues to do the hard work that our schools needed so students now have access to greatly improved literacy and math curriculum including algebra and eth grade the district now publishes middle and high school course cataloges for the first time in over a over a decade educators are paid significantly better and they're paid correctly the payroll system is stabilized although there's more work to be done and a better system is underway District finances and operations are improving and the Department of Education has partnered with us to provide resources and staff to ensure the district is run as it should be for our kids the super intendent is now held accountable for student learning and the board publicly monitors his prog his progress ress board board rules and meeting Norms now prioritize students and governance responsibilities rather than adult Egos and politics so let's please keep that work going let's focus on the work that the district needs to do what our kids need this work was not done alone and I want to thank my colleagues on the board for making it possible and for the teachers principles and School staff who do the work every day to serve our kids and I want to thank the partners in the city who are always available able to support this work and many of you are in this room and so I want to take a moment actually just to speak to the folks in this room because I have just received the most phenomenal outpouring of love and care um from all s parts of the city from all parts of the political Spectrum from all neighborhoods from all different aspects of the city and I want you to know cuz I know how feels when you're making the hard decisions and when it's stormy and you feel like that is when the work is the hardest and it's hardest to feel really seen you are seen and part of why I've been successful is because many of you in this room have been models to me I want to thank you for that um so please keep doing your own good work you are seen it matters um and I just wanted to express my gratitude for the work that you do um on behalf of the city in your positions thank you while there are challenges ahead for the district there's also many opportunities and the conversations that are now taking place at the district are the right ones about how to best serve our students and their success and making tough choices necessary for the district to live within its means so again I deeply appreciate apprciate our mayor's continued and unwavering support and commitment to families and Public public education always and I will never forget where you were when we needed you most thank you for being there and thank you for always being there and thank you for taking my call when I needed you now um I appreciate that this is mayor's breed's decision I also appreciate that you asked for my recommendation and listen to what our our board needs most now which is someone who can step in the role give it their full self and is confident and prepared to serve and understands the job and understands that the job is to serve our kids um I completely support and wholeheartedly support her choice in appointing Phil Kim for the remainder of this term he has the experience the commitment and energy to deliver for our kids and we are so lucky to have him looking out for that he is deeply committed to our students our kids success Phil I wish you all the best on this journey in this role I have no regrets it truly makes the weight of this decision a little lighter so thank you again mayor breed for listening to what I had to say about what is needed um I would have loved to have the opportunity to serve with you on the board and lastly I want to thank my family my kids are in school right now as they should be um but I want to thank them for sharing their mom even when they really didn't want to and for supporting me always and to my husband for being my biggest cheerleader and my greatest friend thank you um I am honored and grateful to having served and I appreciate the grace you're giving me in this moment but I will say while I am taking this time and I need this time to take care of myself and prioritize myself and my needs and my family's needs You Haven't Seen the Last of Me thank thank you so much Lany again for your your work and your words and your commitment to San Francisco and now at this time uh I want to officially announce that I plan to take lany's recommendation to appoint Phil Kim to take over on the school board and let me just say that I know that there are a lot of excellent candidates and and a lot of people uh who have an interest in serving in this capacity um and why Phil and why so quickly um the school district is going through a lot right now and as Laney mentioned the payroll system still needs work um there is the threat of being taken over by the state and the need to ensure that there is continuity of support as we move through this very difficult time and when I thought about lany's recommendation as well as many of the people that I know in this world uh that are very much focused on education and focused on supporting our kids in public schools the person who kept coming to mind even before you mentioned his name was Phil Kim and the reason why is because I've had an opportunity to meet with and talk to Phil over the years and what I appreciate most is his commitment to education and his commitment to supporting and uplifting kids throughout San Francisco uh we know that he has run uh for school board in the past uh but his intimate work around education for over a decade specifically focusing on stem and making sure that especially kids who may not have access to a robust career curriculum around stem that they get the support that they need in order to thrive and ensuring that support and professional development is a part of the conversation for our Educators this is the work that he has consistently done it is no reason why he was hired to work for the school board to help during such a very challenging time and Matt is looking at me side eye right now because uh he's thinking well you know I had him first um but the thing is we need him in this role now and we need to make sure that we have a strong collegial successful School Board to help Usher this school district through during a very difficult time financially and there are hard decisions that need to be made but the decisions have consequences and so the need to listen to parents parents the need to listen to and work with Educators the need to ensure that our children are put first every step of the way that is why I have chosen to appoint Phil Kim and let's just be very clear these will be very hard emotional decisions because of how people love their children love their teachers and love their schools and so when talking to Phil he understands what this entails this is not just an administrative job this involves people this involves the need to have those conversations with people and make the best decisions even when there is disagreement so I am really excited about what this means for the school district and I think that he is an incredible choice to help lead this school district dist to help support our superintendent and the important work necessary to ensure the success of this school district in light of the challenges around declining enrollment we have a lot of work to do and we have to make sure that the politics is not in the school district when making those decisions and I am proud that the people that I've had a chance to appoint and some that I've had a chance to work with have focused on ensuring that they are working together and putting our kids first so this is an exciting time you know what's interesting when I talk to people all over this city they ask me a lot about the schools whether they have children in our school district or not they want to see our schools succeed and as someone who is only standing here because I am a beneficiary of this public school system every decision I make and all the support we provide comes from a place of wanting to ensure the success of this district and I know deep down that is what everyone wants and that is why it is my honor to make the hard decision among so many different options to choose the person I truly believe is best to take us to that next level and that is Phil Kim and before I swear him in I wanted to invite a few people up to say a few words uh we will start with state senator Scott weiner we will then have the president now of the school board Matt Alexander and we will then have a parent San Francisco parent uh who is in charge of a San Francisco parent Coalition mayor D doson say a few words and then we will get to the work of swearing in Phil Kim Senator weiner uh thank you Madame mayor and first of all um you know Madame mayor I want to thank you for your appointments um for you know when we came out of the Schoolboard recall that was a really shaky time for the school district and it could have gone in a number of different directions and you made um some inspired uh appointments including Laney including Lisa Weissman Ward uh and and that has helped turn the district around so thank you for your appointments and you're making another inspired appointment today thank you for caring so deeply about the children of San Francisco um I'll be honest this is a Bittersweet day bitter and sweet um and I um I did not know Lany before she was we had met but we did not know each other well and um and I still remember on the day that we met after the appointment and we sat down uh and she talked about her vision and I immediately knew this is someone who was going to be just so serious about the work of public education uh in San Francisco um and she has delivered and when you you know it matters who's in these positions I think there's a politics gets so disparaged like it doesn't matter everything's terrible it matters and when you have the right people in decision-making roles it makes all the difference in the world and Lany you are truly the proverbial grown up in the room you you have just done unbelievable work and we talk regularly um and uh I am just so grateful for everything that you've done and and when we spoke earlier this week you were clear that you're not done and and I told you just tell me when you're ready and we're going to get you right back uh engaged uh when L and I first met that day after her appointment one of the questions I asked her uh was about lgbtq kids uh in the district and the need to support those kids in an era uh when those kids are being absolutely demonized across the country and she of course been with us th% and I'm grateful for that uh but what we did not know um at that time is that uh the other community that I'm a part of uh the Jewish Community would also um have some massive challenges because October 7th had not happened at the time the war in Gaza had not happened uh and I just want to say um on behalf of the Jewish community on behalf of Jewish families in the district and Jewish children in the school district who at times have uh experienced things that no child should have to experience uh you have uh just stood up and engaged and been a champion for those kids too and I from the bottom of my heart I am so deeply appreciative and I know I speak for a lot of people when I say that so thank [Applause] you um so uh I also just want to say um I have known Phil I've known you for a long time uh I think I've supported Phil every time he has run for the school board and I did so not just because he's a fantastic human being uh but because it's hard to imagine someone more qualified uh to be on the school board uh someone who brings such a unique perspective both as an educator and someone who understands education uh but as a leader uh in our community uh and Phil you're going to be amazing and I am just so happy for you I'm so happy for the district and for the city uh that everyone's going to see exactly what I know what supervisor mandelman knows what we all know uh that you're going to hit it out of the park and I am just thrilled so congratulations thank you madam mayor good afternoon everyone um I'm Matt Alexander the new president of the San Francisco Board of Education um before I served on the board I spent 20 years as a uh teacher and principal in our public schools and first of all I just want to say I'm really GNA miss working with elany matam um she is a gem of a person she um as she said she never does anything halfway um she has the courage to stand up for what's right with Integrity uh even when it's uncomfortable to ask tough questions to push um you know she and she always helps all of us keep our Focus where it belongs which is on student learning and student achievement and um you know and as uh thank you Madame mayor for talking about like the the depoliticization of the school board I think Laney has been one who's who's really um you know done more than anyone to to really make that happen and it's been an honor this year to collaborate um I'm I've been the vice president obviously and we've worked really closely together um and it's just been an honor working with her um and because we've worked so closely together I want to say clearly that as I step into the role of board president during this um challenging time that I am committed to continuing the work that she started so there's not going to be any uh change in approach uh we are we are following the same path um frankly that the whole board is taking thanks to Laney's leadership um and my my other colleagues on the board as well and I know Lany talked about some of the accomplishments but I want to list some also so we've overhauled our board governance system so um as she mentioned we focus on holding the superintendent accountable not on micromanaging we've established ambitious academic goals in third grade literacy e8th grade math and College and Career Readiness and we publicly hold superintendent staff accountable on a monthly basis to achieving those goals that's brand new that's never happened before on our school board and that's how we've really focused on student learning we've adopted a new literacy curriculum as Laney mentioned for the first time in 20 years um and we've brought back um Algebra 1 as a course offering in eth grade um we've given our teachers and our par Educators the uh largest raises in history to make sure that we have fully staff schools for our kids with the most highly qualified people in our classrooms um in 2022 we passed the Student Success fund ballot measure with almost 80% of the vote which is bringing in $35 million a year uh in Support Services mental health academic uh additional academic support and enrichment and we're going back to the ballot this November with a school bond that's almost $800 million um that is going to bring in uh the revenue we need to repair our aging facilities and offer our kids the environment they deserve in their schools um and we could not have done any of this without president mami's leadership so you know our kids really are better off um for your service thank you thank you and I am G to miss you um we all know there are going to be challenges ahead everyone's referenced it right and that's why I'm so grateful to Mayor breed for acting so swiftly um to a point of replacement and not just any replacement um Phil is someone who has really been he's already a valuable member of our executive team he's been working for the school district so I know as she said she kind of stole him away from the superintendent um but I'm lucky I get to have him as a colleague now but more importantly he's ready to hit the ground running um you know he is um gonna gonna help make those difficult decisions he's going to address those challenges he's someone I know and respect and I'm really looking forward to working with you Phil as a colleague so thank you for taking on this this challenge um in this difficult time um as a longtime educator in our Public Schools you know I know firsthand how important it is to have strong and stable leadership at the top and so again thank you uh Phil for joining us uh thank you for lady for your courage and for modeling that leadership for us um and I'm confident that we're going to continue our work to stabilize SF usd's fiscal and operational Health to um really rebuild trust with families which we need we' we've been doing but we need to keep doing and to keep our focus on student outcomes and to create the schools that our students and families deserve the schools that this great City deserves thank you very much [Applause] everyone good afternoon everyone um I'm Merith Dodson uh with SF parent Coalition and as an sfusd parent and the executive director of the organization I'm here to offer a voice on behalf of sfusd families and families across the city who care deeply about our schools and the future of our students our school district is at a pivotal moment a moment where we're grappling with tough budget decisions that will impact the stability and the future of our schools every move we make right now matters so I want to express our deep appreciation for the leadership of Laney matam um as president of the sfusd Board of Education during your time on the board you've been a steadfast champion of our students always pushing for what's best for them them and centering them in every conversation under her leadership we saw the school board refocus on the biggest task at hand fixing our budget she's been laser focused on holding the superintendent and staff accountable to realigning that budget to our goals for improving student outcomes and she's rightfully refused to accept budgets that were not balanced pushing the district to do better she's worked closely with families with educators she's called for greater transparency by the dist district and ultimately she's been helping to rebuild trust in sfusd we're so grateful to you Laney for your tireless efforts and the impact that you've had on our schools as one of our own um involved in our Grassroots parent advocacy from when we started in 2020 helping to propel our efforts from the very start um and what was a a a void of parent voice that was so needed um and as a candidate at that our political arm backed on the on the 22 um Schoolboard election we've been so proud to Stand By Your Side all the way and support your leadership on the school board um these last couple of years so thank you um and while this change in board comp composition comes unexpectedly we're also confident in the future of the new appointee Phil Kim so thank you mayor breed for appointing such a strong candidate um Phil is no stranger to education or our district with years of dedicated work advocating for educational equity and Excellence um as the recent director with sfusd a recent director with sfusd comes to this role Now with an understanding of the comp complexities of our system and that experience will be invaluable as we Face the tough challenges ahead Phil's deep understanding of our District's needs and passion for making sure every student succeeds make him an excellent addition to the board so now more than ever we need bold and fearless Student Center centered leadership on the school board to keep the focus on what's in the best interest of our 49,000 public school students we may be facing many uncertainties as a district but what is certain is our shared commitment to the success of San Francisco's public school kids with everyone rowing in the same direction we can meet this moment fixing our budget supporting our Educators and focusing our resources on improving outcomes for all students thank you thank you mayor [Applause] all right the moment we've been waiting for Phil come on up well we don't small room okay please raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name I Phill Kim do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and defend that I will support and defend the con Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of California and the constitution of the State of California against all enemies against all enemies foreign and domestic foreign and domestic that I bear true faith that I bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the Saint to the saint that I take this obligation freely that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully and that I will well and Faithfully discharge the duties discharge the duties uh upon which I'm about to enter upon which I'm about to enter and during such time and during such time as I serve as as I serve as member of the Board of Education member of the board of education for the City and County of San Francisco for the City and County of San Francisco congratulations [Applause] hello everyone good afternoon good afternoon thank you I'm a middle school teacher and me I'm sorry uh thank you uh president matam and thank you mayor breed um on Monday sfusd opened its doors for nearly 50,000 students kicking off the 2425 school year and it's a time of great change and challenge for our district as you heard our Educators and families yet are showing up every day ready to do what it takes to do right by our kids our students truly inspire me and they are why I show up every day to do this work today I'm filled with uh gratitude and determination I am truly grateful for president matam and her leadership as you all have heard and I'm truly grateful for the mayor for continued commitment to the city and our families I am determined to carry on the good work of the board in carrying forward our student outcomes Focus governance collaborating with the city Our Community Partners and really centering students and families in all our decision decisions I want to be really clear that my prior my primary focus as a commissioner is to ensure we deliver for our students and families that we hold ourselves to the highest standard so that we can demonstrably improve outcomes for all students as I resign from my position in the district I want to recognize and appreciate my colleagues in sfusd who have who I have had the great privilege of working alongside the work of building a more just Equitable and effective school system is a challenge I have been and will continue to tackle head-on and I am so hopeful for what we can accomplish together to my partner Andrew thank you for always being in my corner fiance recent fiance thank you all very much and I look forward to working with each and every one of you thank you all right that's it get back to work thank you to