SFUSD is overhauling how it assigns students to schools
The school board is expected Tuesday to approve the development of a neighborhood-based enrollment system, which would replace the San Francisco Unified School District’s current student assignment lottery process, which is largely unpredictable and almost universally loathed.
The board has narrowed down what a new system would look like to two options, each first assigning students to a school near their homes. Both options would still leave the door open to attend other city schools.
The first would allow families to apply to all district elementary schools with space available, while the second would limit applications to schools with special programs, including language, special education and sites serving grades K-8.
“The direction is neighborhood schools,” said school board President Phil Kim, with the incoming kindergarten class in the fall of 2028 attending a school determined by the new system.
