In an effort to claw back millions in lost funding, SPARK SF Public Schools and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) have launched the “Be Here!” campaign. It's a bottom-up approach to improving student attendance and, by extension, ensuring schools receive the state funds contingent on having bodies in seats.
The "Be Here!" initiative, falling under the auspices of the SFUSD, represents a concerted thrust by local business and community leaders to plant students firmly in their classrooms. Financially, there’s much at stake; SFUSD schools are counting the cost of what an SFUSD press release estimated at a staggering loss of 4.4 million hours of learning due to absences in the 2024-25 school year, slicing over $60 million from their state funding.
The campaign draws together San Francisco's iconic sports teams, the Golden State Warriors and the San Francisco Giants, and local community pillars like Bay FC and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. They have all teamed up to endorse the project through various media, with social media, physical posters, and public service announcements just some of the avenues to communicate the essential 'Be Here!' message.
Ginny Fang, President of SPARK SF Public Schools, delivered a stern warning by the San Francisco Unified School District: "Students who miss just two days a month are more likely to fall behind in reading and math and are less likely to graduate." Dr. Maria Su, Superintendent of SFUSD, reinforced this sentiment, stating that it's about opportunity. When students are in class, they're learning, connecting, and growing. These comments underscore the broader implications of absenteeism—not just an issue of funding, but one of academic and developmental opportunities for San Francisco's youth.
Part of the solution funded by SPARK is creating a full-time position to oversee attendance and foster best practices within schools. There's also talk of a digital dashboard to track attendance metrics, allowing for proactive intervention when patterns of absenteeism are detected.
