I'm cautiously optimistic about the coming entrance of the SLUSD's newest superintendent. After the unmitigated disaster that was Christine Lim and the middling work of Cindy Cathey, whoever comes to sit in the big seat is going to have to hit the ground running. The veritable gauntlet of challenges facing the district are well known, but with a new superintendent there's a chance we can overcome them.
I'd say the number one problem facing the SLUSD beyond money and test scores is perception, both within and out of the city. Most folks have very strong opinions about the SLUSD and are quick to express them. In the past few months I've had casual conversation about the city with neighbors, family, and co-workers that have yielded, without prompting, horror stories about the district and their experiences with it. One lady told me that her daughter was subjected to a student that kept flashing his penis at her in the middle of class, completely unbeknownst to the teacher standing at the front of the room. Students I know attending classes in the district have testified to numerous fights that continue to break out at the high school and are kept quiet as much as possible. One of my co-workers told me that his neighbor was moving out of San Leandro specifically to avoid sending their child to the high school. That's a pretty damning sampling of public opinion, particularly when the conversations started off on completely different topics.
As a result of the perpetual black eye affixed to the face of our district, we have legions of parents who send their children to private schools or finagle them into nearby districts like Castro Valley. These are parents who could potentially be a boon to this district by keeping their zest for quality education within the walls of our own schools. Instead, the SLUSD is seen by them as something to avoid. Many people speak of how important it is for the community to be involved with their local schools, but that's hard to accomplish when so many parents see the SLUSD as a lost cause.
For the San Leandro parents whose children are enrolled in this district, there are numerous issues they have to contend with each year. The SLUSD's abandonment of the more rigorous proof of residency guidelines has made it much easier for out of district children to be sneaked in over the years. Some insist that it doesn't matter because we get money for every body at a desk, but tell that to the educators in the classroom who have to contend with rowdy kids that have been shuttled from school to school due to their out of control behavior. The parents who keep flocking away from the SLUSD certainly aren't impressed with this trade-off.
SLUSD parents also have to struggle with understaffed facilities, minimal security, and year after year of fiscal irresponsibility. Parcel taxes are no longer the exception, but the expectation, signaling an inability on the part of the district to budget and function within its means. Measure L proposed that certain basic school services could end up on the chopping block if not passed, so San Leandrans voted yes in good faith. Not long after, the SLUSD takes out over a million dollar loan to fund the development of a health center that is decidedly excessive and unnecessary. One minute we need emergency funds from property owners for books and electricity, the next we can go recklessly borrow a million bucks for a Hail Mary clinic? That's a heck of a mixed message to send to the parents and people of San Leandro.
All that is not to say that there isn't hope in the SLUSD. From the various academies like SLAM and college prep programs like AVID, to the embattled teachers and councilors who overcome their limited supplies and resources, there are a great many people down in the trenches with our students every day trying to make their futures bright. What our new superintendent has to do is put those indispensable people at the forefront of the SLUSD's plans.
The plan can't keep being to put administrators before buildings before teachers before councilors before students. There needs to be a concerted effort to flip the equation and start concentrating what funds we have into the classroom. Furthermore, start weeding out the kids that shouldn't be here, or at the very least the ones who are actively destructive. Stabilize the budget in a way that doesn't require San Leandrans opening their wallets every other month. Demonstrate to the people of this city that you can produce real results, that you expect better than incremental improvements, and maybe you can start winning back some of the families we've lost. We need action now, and this new superintendent can be the one to get things started. Or they can get vanity plates on their car that tell us they're the superintendent (not a fabrication, by the way). Here's hoping for the former.
