On Dec. 2, 2025, Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School became the latest flashpoint in the San Francisco Unified School District’s ongoing challenges. Around lunchtime, a Burton student was shot in the leg on campus. Superintendent Maria Su responded to reporters at Burton High with gratitude for the quick response and “collaboration between SFUSD and city leadership.” Yet, parents were left with many unanswered questions: Was the shooter another student? Was the shooting gang-related? The official SFUSD email response provided limited details: “… there was a gun-related incident at Burton High School that resulted in a student being injured. The student was transported to the hospital and is expected to be okay.” Even staunchly progressive District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder released a statement: “I am deeply grateful for the quick response of SFPD.”
In the past two years, several gun incidents involved SFUSD students, including the most recent last month, where five people were shot at Ocean Beach — four were juveniles. Very little information was released to parents about what schools were involved, only that both SFUSD and private school students were “impacted.”
The relationship between SFUSD and SFPD has been strained since 2020, when the now-recalled Board of Education abruptly severed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) after George Floyd’s death, despite community pushback. The African American Parent Advisory Committee urged the board to retain the MOU, but its request was largely ignored.
In 2023, SFUSD students brought guns to campus, including one at James Denman Middle School, where staff inadvertently discovered the gun when breaking up an altercation between two students. Three students at Washington High School were found carrying two guns, a discovery that shocked parents and underscored how easily weapons are entering campuses. Again, parents were left with unanswered questions about the presence of gangs and affiliated weapons at SFUSD. Similarly, Galileo High School was rattled when a 16-year-old student was shot in the ankle near Ghirardelli Square, one block from his school, during lunchtime by a gang-affiliated teen. The victim’s mother said a “group of boys pressured her son to go to a park and then pressured him to join their gang … when he refused, he was attacked and shot.” She went to the police, but under the previous administration, she was told nothing could be done. SFUSD’s long-held policy on student privacy made no mention of any expulsion or action regarding the teen gangs. Instead, SFUSD banned Galileo’s open-campus policy during lunchtime, essentially punishing students to ensure their own safety.
In February 2024, teens took to the streets and steps of city hall for a protest march with parents and teachers, demanding further improvements regarding gun violence, gangs, response delays, and outdated protocols and public announcement equipment.
In November 2025, a Washington High School parent filed a police report about threats against her teen, which included several death threats from a peer. She also reported the threats to school leadership but said that, to her knowledge, no action was taken against the perpetrator. At least three teens have had to change schools because of increased bullying and threats of student violence at Washington High School. Almost one-third of San Francisco students are enrolled in private schools, well above the national, state, or Bay Area averages by 10 to 20 percentage points.
The relationship between SFUSD and SFPD has been strained since 2020, when the now-recalled Board of Education abruptly severed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) after George Floyd’s death, despite community pushback. The African American Parent Advisory Committee urged the board to retain the MOU, but its request was largely ignored. This broke SFUSD’s functioning security model by removing vital Security Resource Officers, trained and armed by SFPD, specifically for the safety crisis that occurs on and around school campuses. In addition, weapons discoveries (e.g., guns at school under California Penal Code §626.9) are handled by counselors or violence interrupters, and don’t result in automatic arrests. This reduced the school-to-prison pipeline in the short term but also made it easier for youths to bring weapons to school and receive no substantive interventions.
When it comes to teen safety, bullying and gangs, Captain Kevin Lee of SFPD Richmond station encourages parents to get more involved with their kids and their online activities. “Be proactive, get involved, know what they do online, and get the police involved. Don’t feel awkward about calling the police, especially if your case is strong; we will do something about it.” He elaborated that “strong” meant credible witnesses, evidence, among other items. But even if a case isn’t strong with evidence, a parent’s reporting can help other parents when a pattern emerges — especially when perpetrators have multiple victims.
From 2005 to 2020, SFUSD operated under a MOU with SFPD, which established a program for positive police presence in schools. Under the agreement, Security Resource Officers (SROs) were specially trained to interact with youth and to provide crisis intervention, including educating students on public safety, mediating conflicts, and preventing truancy and substance abuse. They also served as a dedicated point of contact for safety incidents on or near school grounds, including for firearms and weapons, while providing mentorship and practical skills to students. SFPD is also a knowledge base on teen violence, gang trends, and related issues — they are a vital source of information for parents, teachers, students, and school employees. The SRO concept was rooted in the “Officer Friendly” program, first launched by the Chicago Police Department in 1966 and, by 1979, active in more than 200 communities nationwide. Should SFUSD renew the MOU and reallocate funding for SROs?
Several principals, teachers, and parents at SFUSD middle and high schools expressed support for renewing the MOU. Laurance Lee, a Lowell alumnus and education advocate, reports Galileo parents welcome increased security presence, even retired SFPD officers, as an interim measure, while longer-term solutions are negotiated. Lee suggests a hybrid model in which higher-risk campuses would receive a more expedited and robust SFPD or security presence. Frank Noto of Stop Crime S.F. (whose daughter graduated from Lowell) supports the SFPD MOU and its renewal.
The SFUSD deficit continues to rise over $100 million, while security staff are being reduced by 50 percent, and unvetted ethnic studies get funding priority. What can students, parents, teachers, and the community expect from school and city leadership? Look out for Part 2 of our multipart series on SFUSD and student safety.