San Francisco trustees extend school year after teacher strike

San Francisco trustees extend school year after teacher strike

The San Francisco Unified School District will extend its school year by one week this June to make up for instructional days lost during a teacher strike earlier this year.

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Unified School District will extend its school year by one week this June to make up for instructional days lost during a teacher strike earlier this year.

What we know:

The school board voted 6-1 Tuesday night to push back the last day of school from June 3 to June 10, adding five days to the academic calendar to compensate for the time students and teachers were out of the classroom when the district's 6,500 educators walked off the job in February.

Not all board members were fully on board with the decision.

"There's a lot of concern many students won't even show up, and a lot of concern about what instruction will be provided in this extra time," said board member Supriya Ray.

Big picture view:

Adding school days after a strike is not uncommon. 

California requires districts to provide a minimum of 180 days of instruction, and those that fall short can face steep financial penalties from the state.

In 2022, Sacramento Unified added 16 extra days to its calendar over two years to make up for a 16-day teacher strike, avoiding a $47 million fine. In 2023, Los Angeles Unified agreed to add three days to its calendar — starting the following school year earlier — to sidestep a potential $100 million penalty.

Not every district has followed the same path. 

Oakland Unified and West Contra Costa Unified, both of which had recent teacher strikes, did not add school days to their calendars. Instead, many districts opt to convert existing teacher work days into regular instructional days to make up for lost time without extending the school year.