San Francisco Mayor London Breed is proposing an additional $15 million in funding for the city’s public schools in the next two years’ budgets, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday.
The San Francisco Unified School District currently faces a $22 million budget gap due to losses in local tax revenues and state funding, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“One of the most frustrating aspects of the failure of national leadership to contain COVID-19 is that students are facing another year of education without the ability to be in the classroom,” Breed said in a statement. “The City is stepping in to help the school district through this challenging time because we need to do everything we can to ensure that our students don’t fall further behind during these uncertain times.”
The funds will come from the city’s general fund and are aimed at supporting distance learning and technology needs — and, should schools reopen for in-person learning, to pay for personal protective equipment, enhanced cleaning and reduced class sizes.
Details of the mayor’s proposed budget for fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 are expected to be announced on Friday.