On October 11, officials from the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) acknowledged that they published incorrect data in their recent proposal for closing schools, further undermining their efforts to rebuild public trust. This admission came shortly after Superintendent Matt Wayne released a list of schools that could potentially close by the end of the academic year during a community meeting set for October 8. The list included comprehensive scores for the affected schools, which are a key factor in determining closures.

However, just hours after the scores were released, the district discovered errors in the data and made corrections. Unfortunately, they did not inform the school board, community, or parents about this issue. School Board President Matt Alexander commented that he only learned about the situation late on the evening of October 10.

Some parents, like Alexander, noticed the discrepancies in the school scores at around the same time. SFUSD officials stated that while the list of schools slated for closure would not change due to the score corrections, it did alter the ranking of which schools were more or less likely to be closed.

District spokesperson Laura Dudnick explained, “We released incorrect comprehensive score data on October 8, which has since been corrected and verified by third-party researchers. We apologize for the inaccurate data and assure everyone that the list proposed for school closures or mergers on October 8 remains unchanged.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, insiders revealed that the errors in the comprehensive scores stemmed from the list being leaked on the day of the announcement. This premature release forced the district to go public with the list two hours earlier than planned, without having fully verified the scores for each school.

Nonetheless, this incident has raised questions about the validity of the selection process for the closures and whether the school scores were manipulated.

Tiffany Furrell, a parent and data analyst, shared that her husband discovered a discrepancy in the score for Harvey Milk Elementary, which is on the closure list, but the district provided no clarification. “If there is a legitimate reason, they should explain it, but no one seems to be aware of that assumption. We don’t know what this data actually entails, and that is both frustrating and infuriating.”

Even parents whose children do not attend schools on the closure list expressed their astonishment at the numerous issues the district has faced in recent years. When discussing staffing and budget cuts, Rasheq Zarif, a parent from McKinley Elementary, stated, “This isn’t just about whether schools will close or not; I lack confidence in their ability to achieve the necessary goals.”