School board approves amendment extending Alvarez & Marsal support to stabilize Empower SF payroll system

The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education voted 7-0 to approve an amendment to its services agreement with Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) that increases consultant capacity and extends on-site support through May 31 to accelerate resolution of persistent payroll problems tied to the districts Empower SF payroll system. The board recorded the unanimous roll-call vote after a public presentation and extended public comment.

Superintendent Wayne told the board the district declared a payroll state of emergency on Nov. 7 and has set up a command center to manage ticket resolution and stabilize operations. "Our number one priority needs to be to make our staff whole, be transparent about what we're doing to address this issue, and also be held accountable to following through on the plans we're presenting," the superintendent said in his presentation. He described steps already taken, including increased case management and targeted fixes to 403(b) contributions and health‑benefit calculations.

A&M presented the results of a recent random sample of outstanding payroll tickets and said the sample (n=447) showed roughly 60% of tickets stemmed from process problems: unclear business requirements, missing role assignments and insufficient training. "Many — 60% — of the tickets relate to process issues, which means defining the business requirements, assigning roles and responsibilities and adequately training staff," an A&M representative said, summarizing the sample review.

Teachers and union leaders urged quicker results and questioned the cost. One classroom teacher described widespread daily payroll errors and asked why the district had not fixed the problems sooner: "We paid $14,000,000 for this program ... we paid $2,800,000 for this consulting firm ... we're going to pay another $8,000,000 — what have we gotten for it?" Leslie Hu, secretary of United Educators of San Francisco, said the additional $8 million request and the extension through May signaled a longer timeline than educators can tolerate and that the money is being diverted from student needs.

Wayne and board members said the amendment is funded using salary savings from vacancies and unspent carryover funds from 2021–22, and emphasized the amendment is meant to increase capacity temporarily while the district builds redundancies and documents processes for an eventual exit from consultant support. Wayne said earlier independent recommendations estimated a needed staffing investment ranging from $7 million to $12 million to implement Empower successfully; A&M's operational assessment recommended up to 30–50 full‑time equivalents to stabilize the system during transition.

Board members pressed staff for a clear timeline and a public accounting of steps taken and expected outcomes. Several commissioners said they support the amendment now to increase operational capacity but sought firm follow‑up dates and evidence that the district will be able to run payroll independently when the contract ends.

The board's action follows the public comment period in which educators, parents and staff described personal financial harm from payroll errors and demanded accountability from contract negotiators and the districts legal office. The superintendent said the administration will continue regular public updates and produce documentation that clarifies roles, timelines and measurable milestones for recovery.

The approved motion (as recorded in the meeting) authorized the superintendent and staff to amend the A&M agreement to increase resources and extend the support period; the board asked that specific names in the amendment be replaced by role descriptions before final posting.

What happens next: A&M will continue supporting the district command center, the district will track ticket resolution on a public dashboard and board members asked the superintendent to return with a timeline and audit-style accounting of actions and funding. The board also directed staff to convert named contractor roles in the contract language to role descriptions to clarify responsibilities and enable an orderly exit plan.