Phil Kim seeks reelection as SFUSD faces crisis, school closures

Phil Kim’s bid for reelection has become a verdict on whether San Francisco parents think the school district has truly steadied, or only found a more polished face for a system still under strain. The race lands as San Francisco Unified School District continues to wrestle with enrollment decline, a deep budget gap and the fallout from a school-closing process that rattled families across the city.

Kim entered the board in August 2024, then was unanimously elected president in January 2025, just months after the district named 11 schools for possible closure or merger in October 2024. That timing now sits at the center of the campaign. Voters are being asked to decide whether Kim helped guide the district through the worst of the turmoil, or whether the hard parts, including staffing pressure, academic recovery and trust with families, remain unresolved.

The stakes are concrete. SFUSD said it will serve 55,237 students in the 2025-26 school year, including 12,997 English learners, or 23.5% of enrollment. On June 24, 2025, the Board of Education adopted a $1.2 billion operating budget paired with at least $113.8 million in spending cuts for 2025-26 and another $59 million in reductions planned for 2026-27. Late-2025 reporting said the district had already cut more than $150 million as part of its deficit-reduction effort.

The closure fight remains the clearest sign of how far the district still has to go. The October 2024 process relied on 10 criteria, including equity, academic excellence, building capacity, building condition, popularity and the share of Black and Hispanic students. Critics said the earlier push was botched and left staff and families reeling. A later draft of the Strong Schools Resolution raised the prospect of requiring a reorganization plan by August 2026 for implementation in the 2027-28 school year.

Kim’s supporters argue he has brought steadiness and attention to detail at a moment when SFUSD needs both. Opponents say the district’s deeper problems have not been solved and that the board still has not rebuilt confidence after years of upheaval. The challengers, Virginia Cheung and Brandee Marckmann, are running against that backdrop, with fiscal stability, literacy, program offerings and reform all on the ballot.

Kim has also sought to frame the board’s work around the families most affected by instability, including immigrant and undocumented families, LGBTQ+ students and children facing academic and social-emotional needs. Mayor Daniel Lurie said Kim’s unanimous election as board president reinforced the mandate voters gave the board to raise standards and improve schools. For parents watching from the Castro, Glen Park and neighborhoods far from 555 Franklin St., the test is simpler: whether daily school life feels more stable now than it did a year ago.