In last month’s issue the View presented eight of the 12 candidates for the San Francisco School Board. The other four, Min Chang, Ann Hsu, Laurance Lee, and Supryia Ray, are portrayed below.
Min Chang is a Rincon Hill resident and chief executive officer of Homebridge, a $65 million San Francisco-based nonprofit with more than 500 staff that provides home and community-based care.
“The skills I’ve refined here include developing a robust budget, mobilizing resources, understanding our customer base and requirements, and always listening to customers. I keep them in mind. I’ve also learned that you need more than an annual plan, but a strategic plan for the long-term. These are all skills I will bring to helping handle the budget issues and school closures that SFUSD is facing,” said Chang.
During her campaign Chang visited San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) schools, engaging with principals and parents.
“We would like to raise the performance level for our kids in the basics, from math to civics. This has to be a team effort. I think principals are an untapped resource for information on how to do that,” said Chang. “SFUSD has many suppliers. I want to shrink the number of suppliers for the district strategically and minimize indirect expenses for the non-payroll side. We could think about this and plan academic changes with several focus groups. Then we could model the financial impact on some of the district’s approximately 120 schools.”
Ann Hsu, a Richmond District resident, has a background in technology entrepreneurship. She served on the SF School Board for roughly a year but lost her seat in the 2022 election. Last year she founded the Bertrand D. Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy, a private kindergarten through eighth grade school located at 450 Connecticut Street. The facility has 13 full-time students, with more than 20 attending its Saturday tutorial program.
“I am running again because SFUSD is in a fiscal crisis, and I want to tell the truth about why we need to close schools. I want to reverse the decades of mismanagement of funds SFUSD has experienced,” said Hsu. “After the controversial comments which led to calls for me to resign, I went to Bayview and met with approximately 10 African American community leaders. They helped me understand why my words…had hurt some people.”
Hsu would like to change SFUSD’s curriculum and teaching styles to help students achieve grade level proficiency in math and English.
“At Bertrand D. Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy, we’ve found success with individualized education. We’ve adopted an AI-enabled platform that teaches math and English. It evaluates what a student has learned and then personalizes their lessons so they can learn what they have not yet covered for their grade level. We rely on it for 70 percent of math instruction and 40 percent of English instruction,” said Hsu.
Laurance Lee is a Noe Valley resident and owner of L3 Construction LLC, a San Francisco and Utah-based general contractor firm. He attended San Francisco public schools from kindergarten through high school. He’s a SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee member and contributor to Eyes on San Francisco Board of Education, a newsletter focused on the Board’s activities. Lee has relationships with teachers from his years of community advocacy, with extended family who are SFUSD students and educators.
“Avoiding a state takeover is a massive concern. We need to resolve long-term systemic problems with the district’s culture, accountability, trust, and finances. We also need to achieve better student outcomes, which will involve having better teacher trainings and curricula,” said Lee. “Students across the City aren’t coming to class, often because of mental health issues. We should bring more resources into mental health and encourage more students to come to school. We also need to improve outcomes for students with learning differences like dyslexia that are related to competency in literacy. Remaining nimble and staying a good listener as we make the transition to community-based enrollment from the lottery system is essential. So many parents are frustrated and want to have their voices heard in this process.”
Supryia Ray is a Sunset resident, the parent of two SFUSD students, at Lowell High School and A.P. Giannini Middle School, and an attorney specializing in securities compliance law. For the past three years, she’s been vice president of finance and vice president pro tem for the Jefferson Elementary School parent-teacher association.
“I’ve taught literacy, English as a Second Language, computer skills, immigrant rights, and street law to adults and at-risk youth…in classes and workshops at community colleges, community-based organizations, and libraries,” said Ray. “So many students are in unstable, difficult home environments like I was. For me, schools were a safe, stable place where I got access to adults who mentored and encouraged me. The three issues I’m focusing on in my campaign are financial sustainability and stability, safety in the schools, and academic excellence. I want to meet students where they’re at and use evidence-based practices like high-dosage tutoring to improve performance.”
“I am helping with logistics and her ballot submissions,” said John Trasviña, who is volunteering on Ray’s campaign. “I am a former candidate for the School Board, having run in 2018, and am working on her behalf now because she’s been very involved in the schools for the past four years. She, above all other candidates, has shown a genuine interest in the well-being of all students. Parents and guardians in the City have pulled kids out to independent private schools, including Catholic schools. SFUSD used to see students return after eighth grade, coming into ninth grade. But that has declined. Bringing those students back for high school will require SFUSD to take into account parent concerns about students’ academic performance and school choice, like not getting into requested schools with the lottery system.”
The Potrero Hill Democratic Club endorsed Ray, as did SF Guardians, a more than 9,000 parent, teacher, and community member group that led a 2022 recall of the San Francisco School Board. SF Guardians also support Lee.
“Both are interested in resolving the fiscal crisis…been very much on the front lines of collaboration in working to offer alternatives to the district,” said Siva Raj, co-founder of SF Guardians. “I do have some concerns about Hsu. I don’t see how you can run a private school and be a member of the SF School Board. Every student we lose to private schools hurts every public-school kid. It means we can’t afford to have the staff and services our kids deserve.”
Alina Ferguson