An organization called “San Francisco Parents for a Safe School Environment” lead by Gail Baugh and Anitra Baker has sued SFUSD under the California Environmental Quality Act.

The suit is stating that SFUSD did not conduct a comprehensive environmental study on the impacts of closing schools as required under CEQA. So they are asking the court to stop the school closures, relocations and mergers since the San Francisco School Board and District failed to consider environmental concerns in keeping our school children safe.

They specifically cite the safety issues concerning the former John Swett Elementary students who will now have to travel through a section of San Francisco that has experienced a lot of street violence and killings.

This concern arose during the public testimony on school closures. Parent after parent pointed out that area around John Muir has a great deal of violence over last several years. One grandfather pointed out that if a child’s parent is “in the mix,” both the parent and the child are in danger if they are crossing into an enemy gang’s territory.

Yet, the District didn’t bother to adequately respond to those concerns. A child’s safety is a paramount concern of every parent. The District should have invited the Captain of the Northern Station to do a presentation on the safety surrounding John Muir Elementary School. They should have requested that the San Francisco Police Department work with the impacted families to find ways that the district and parents could work together to reduce any risk.

Instead the District is facing another lawsuit from parents who feel that their concerns were not heard.