Ida Mojadad

1 week ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

After a two-year trial run, San Francisco agreed in 2019 to cover all City College tuition for SF residents, a notable move that drew national attention. The 10-year deal was meant to stabilize the beleaguered school, which had recently avoided a potential death blow from a state agency and was suffering from a years-long erosion in enrollment.

2 weeks ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

San Francisco families have hoped for years that their youngsters entering kindergarten would soon have a better shot at getting into their neighborhood public elementary school. But a long-awaited overhaul to the assignment system, notorious for leaving families in the lurch, is being delayed again, The Frisc has learned.

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

Some San Francisco public schools are fundraising powerhouses, with parents who bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to beef up staff and supplies. Other schools’ parent associations raise far less, and some schools don’t have PTAs at all. Many schools were counting on PTA funds to buffer against staff shortages, which the pandemic and a payroll system meltdown have exacerbated. On Haight Street, the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila PTA raised $390,000 last year.

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

Teachers, parents, students, and others with close ties to San Francisco’s public schools know that the district has $113 million in budget cuts on the near horizon, and that hundreds of teachers and other staff could be laid off. But they might not know about another controversial cost-cutting measure on the table: doubling up two grades in one classroom.

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

Balboa High School special education teacher Ian Williams is a pro at scrounging for pencils, old newspaper comics, and other funky trinkets to give to his students. He finds them at SCRAP, the arts and crafts recycling shop that was cofounded 50 years ago by iconic SF sculptor Ruth Asawa.