In San Francisco, Educational Facility Downsizing Could Add New Housing

Commentary Given recent enrollment declines, both San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco have excess space. While it is disappointing that local educational agencies have fewer students, there is an opportunity to make lemonade from this particular lemon: Spare buildings can be converted to apartments, relieving the city’s housing shortage and providing more affordable units. After peaking at over 90,000 students in the 1960s, SFUSD enrollment declined to 53,000 before the pandemic as household sizes in the city shrank. Last year, enrollment fell below 49,000 students and is expected to drop to around 44,000 in the 2032-33 school year. Superintendent Matt Wayne is responding with a Resource Alignment Initiative intended to downsize the district’s school portfolio. Previous discussion of school closures in San Francisco has attracted opposition from the teacher’s union, which expressed concerns about destabilizing school communities, especially in the city’s southeast neighborhoods....