Parents, students and NAACP demand action over alleged racism and SOTA personnel decisions

A steady stream of public comment dominated the May 14 San Francisco Board of Education meeting, with dozens of parents, students and community leaders raising urgent concerns about alleged racial harassment and personnel decisions at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA) and Lakeshore Elementary.

Students and parents described what they called a "crisis" at SOTA after the district placed two long-serving arts teachers on administrative leave. "These decisions are followed by other unfair actions that have negatively affected the students at our school," parent Cassandra Sweet told the board, urging a meeting with district officials to resolve the issue.

Multiple SOTA parents and staff said the assistant superintendent for high schools threatened to lower the grades of student protesters, and they asked the board to reconsider the placement of district leaders involved in site administration. One SOTA teacher representative told the board that several school employees are not attending the meeting because they fear retaliation.

Separately, the NAACP and families from Lakeshore Elementary described repeated incidents in which a child was threatened by an adult and alleged that the school principal and district administrators failed to respond promptly. "Every black child counts in this district," an NAACP representative said, and community leaders said they are asking the board to recall members and to remove the responsible superintendent-level official from elementary oversight.

Chair and legal staff reminded speakers of board policy not to name personnel during public comment when the matter concerns private personnel issues, but speakers persisted in seeking accountability and demanded investigations and transparency. Several speakers said the district's responses to incidents have been slow and sought written commitments and timetables for follow-up.

Board members and the superintendent acknowledged the seriousness of the stories and said staff would follow up with families and school-site leaders to ensure investigations and supports occur; the superintendent said these incidents are not "teaching moments" to excuse harm and urged reporting so the district can investigate and apply consequences where appropriate.

The public comment period also included calls for a stronger community role in how bond funds are prioritized, and several unions and community groups asked the district to commit more of the bond to core building repairs and to make binding accountability commitments in bond language.