San Francisco (Sept. 21, 2022) - At the San Francisco Board of Education’s regular meeting Tuesday night, commissioners voted 6-0 to approve the selection of a facilitator to lead and manage a Task Force that will provide community-informed recommendations to improve the portfolio of high schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). 

The Task Force will be charged with gathering input from the community on what it needs and wants from SFUSD high schools; understanding and summarizing the current portfolio of the district’s high schools in terms of offerings and student outcomes; and providing recommendations to Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne on ways to improve policies, practices, and programs for better student outcomes.

“This effort squarely aligns with the work that we are doing as a District to focus on student outcomes,” said Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne. “We are excited to engage the community, and selecting a facilitator to lead this work is the first step toward a transparent and fair process to improve our students’ educational experience in San Francisco public high schools.”

Kelefors Education Partners, a San Francisco-based independent consulting firm, will be the Lead Consultant, and will work in conjunction with San-Francisco-based non-profit Partners in School Innovation and Abl, a San Francisco-based education improvement firm. Kelefors’ support of the Task Force’s deliberations will include a series of community conversations and the engagement of school communities to examine the journeys and outcomes of students in SFUSD’s high schools, with the goal of surfacing innovative and promising practices, as well as system-level barriers to student success and opportunities for improvement.

Per the resolution, the Task Force will exist for 12 months and members may include education experts, school leaders, teachers, caregivers, students, civic leaders, business leaders and nonprofit leaders. The facilitator will actively manage the Task Force and provide Task Force volunteers with guidance on seeking the necessary research and content expertise as well as making recommendations.

The Task Force will also examine admissions policies for both selective admissions and comprehensive high schools, with a focus on how to best elevate the quality of education and improve outcomes for all students. 

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