Thread by @jaygoldberg

Why does San Francisco hate children? 1/35

I have lived in San Francisco for 15 years. I like San Francisco, love it sometimes. I try to defend it online and off. 2/35

But it’s getting harder to do that, this city makes it hard. And this week may be the straw that broke this camel’s back. 3/35

Aside from all the problems SF has– homelessness, housing, drugs, etc. – San Francisco also has failing public schools. 4/35

As with everything here, people with money can go to private schools. 5/35

I’m lucky, I can afford to send my kids to those, but as with everything here, even that is not reliable 6/35

One of my kids needed some extra attention at school. It took us a few years and attempts to find the right place. 7/35

But we found it, he is now settled in and dong well there. Our other kids started going to the same school. We have a good relationship with the teachers and parents – we have community. Things were pretty looking good. 8/35

Then San Francisco intervened. 9/35

First, the school lost its lease. Basically the owner got a higher bid from another school. I get it. These things happen in SF real estate. It’s not the first time I’ve ended up on the bad end of a school real estate deal here. It’s not even the second. 10/35

So the school put together a committee of parents to find a new building. Worked really hard. Brought in pros. They did some incredible work and found a perfect building. 11/35

The parents all got together and raised enough money to buy that perfect new building. A lot of money. 12/35

All good so far. But wait. The new building needs to be converted from its current purpose (abandoned auto body shop). And of course, that conversion needs a Permit from the City. 13/35

At first the Planners said the permit will take 3 months. Still plenty of time to get construction done. 14/35

But of course, at the last minute, a new planner steps in and says “Oh no. 3 months is too short. This will take AT LEAST 9 months.” 15/35

Construction can’t start until the permits are issued. Which means it won’t be finished until the end of the next school year. So now the school has to find a temporary location between getting kicked out of the current building and the completion of the new one. 16/35

This brings two problems. First, the school will have to pay rent on the temporary place AND mortgage on the new place. Which is a big hole in the budget. 17/35

Second, THERE ARE NO TEMPORARY LOCATIONS AVAILABLE IN ALL OF SAN FRANCISCO 18/35

Every rentable space is too small, requires extensive retrofitting, not permitted, impossible location or some combination of all the above. And of course, any retrofit would cost money and require, you guessed it, a Permit from the City. 19/35

Just as we were getting down to the wire, we found a great option – the City College of San Francisco @OfficialCCSF. 20/35

CCSF has 11 active locations, and several more that are totally empty. CCSF has a big problem with declining enrollment, a problem that hasn’t gotten better even after they stopped charging tuition! They are scrambling to plug budget holes. But they have property to rent. 21/35

This looked like a great solution. They need money. They have space. We have money. We need space. And it’s already zoned as classrooms, no permitting required. Problem solved. Right? 22/35

Problem NOT solved. We submitted a bid before Thanksgiving. And then WE NEVER HEARD BACK. As far as I can tell, they just didn’t respond! Couldn't be bothered? Stuck in bureaucratic morass? Incapable of formulating a coherent response? We will never know... 23/35

Because it’s now January. Everyone – families, teachers, staff – have to lock down plans for next year. 24/35

We got the official word over the weekend – the school is closing. 25/35

#sfhateschildren
There are a few more twists and turns to this saga. And maybe some billionaire will step in at the last minute 26/35

But the bottom line is that San Francisco real estate pushed a healthy, vibrant school to the brink. And then City bureaucracy applied the killing shot. 27/35

The families are scrambling for a new school. The teachers need to find new jobs. The neighborhood is stuck with an abandoned auto body shop. And I have a kid who has to switch schools for 8th Grade, just one year to adapt, before we go through this again for high school. 28/35

I can guarantee you that we are not the only school to have to go through this. 29/35

There are at least two other private schools closing in SF next year. One of them for the stupidest of bureaucratic reasons imaginable. 30/35

And where is the City on all this? Pretty much doing what you would expect. Nothing. It turns out the city actually has a full-time employee whose job it is to help schools in SF stay open. Let that sink in. 31/35

Our Supervisor @RafaelMandelman? He has lost a school. Gets to keep an abandoned garage. And earned who ever opposes him in the next election a lot of votes and donations. His office reached out to show deep concern at least once during the process. #thoughtsandprayers 32/35

I recognize that this is a 1st World problem, I have alternatives, but over 1/3rd of the school’s students are on full scholarship. Do the math, 50% of tuition goes to scholarships. Those families were given hope of a real school only to have it snatched away by the City. 33/35

So that leaves us with: San Francisco’s public schools are failing, and the City is making it impossible for private schools. The city is actively making things worse. 34/35

Why does San Francisco hate children? 35/35
#sfhateschildren