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Mauricio Vela, a Bernal Heights resident and activist, stands beside the only play structure at Bernal Preschool.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - A look of apprehension falls over Elizabeth Hernandez’s face when she glances over at her daughter Daniela, a 3-year-old who casually scales the lone play structure in the Bernal Preschool’s diminutive outside activity area.
“She seems bored,” said Hernandez, a Bernal Heights resident whose daughter attended the neighborhood preschool for six months. “There just isn’t that much for her to do when she goes outside to play.”
Daniela is one of 24 children in the preschool who cram into the bottom floor of the Paul Revere Elementary School Annex at 610 Tompkins St. An area of roughly 750 square feet — featuring a waterlogged sandbox, two swathes of blacktop and a dilapidated storage shed — is the children’s source of outdoor entertainment.
The preschool was located in the Bernal Heights Branch Library for the last 30 years, but was forced from that site in June because of renovations to the aging structure.
After unsuccessfully fighting city officials over the eviction, the preschool’s backers pushed for the construction of a one-story building — projected to cost $2 million — at the neighboring Bernal Heights Playground.
Advocates helped secure a $500,000 commitment from the Board of Supervisors, but that revenue stream was nearly emptied Feb. 7 when Mayor Gavin Newsom slashed $425,000 from the set-aside as part of an effort to balance The City’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
“To take that money away from us is so disrespectful to this community,” said Mauricio Vela, co-chair of Save the Bernal Preschool Campaign. “Most of these children are low-income and minorities, and I think it shows a clear prioritization by the mayor that he doesn’t care about them.”
Mayor’s Office spokesman Nathan Ballard cited improper planning as the reason funding was cut.
“This project is simply not ready to be funded,” Ballard said. “Its feasibility study is incomplete and regrettably we just can’t afford to pay for this project at this time.”
The Save the Bernal Preschool Campaign is seeking out local lawmakers to put pressure on Newsom to retract his decision before the city budget is finalized in July.
On Wednesday, state Sen. Carole Migden voiced her support for the plan at a rally held at the preschool.
“We’re very averse to see-saw funding for these projects,” Migden said.
If the funding for a new building is not secured, the preschool will be forced to remain at the elementary school annex.
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Comments from Examiner Readers
2:20 PM MST on Fri., Jul. 25, 2008 re: "Lottery for school assignment comes under fire"
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1:11 PM MST on Sat., Jun. 28, 2008
re: "Funds sinking alongside enrollment"
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12:30 PM MST on Thu., Jun. 26, 2008
re: "Lottery for school assignment comes under fire"
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12:30 PM MST on Thu., Jun. 26, 2008
re: "Lottery for school assignment comes under fire"
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7:37 AM MST on Thu., Jun. 26, 2008
re: "Lottery for school assignment comes under fire"
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11:17 AM MST on Tue., May. 20, 2008
re: "Lowell High named among nation’s best"
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miyoko said:
I just recieved a letter from SFUSD that they made an error and need to re assign my child to different school. This is only one month left before school starts. So outrageous. We already got involved with the school that we thought our daughe was going to. We met principle, teachers and all the parents and kids that involves in school. We paid non refundable tuition for afterschool program that the bus goes from there. We are sooo upset about SFUSD unproffesionalizm and poor organization skill. It is a big change for kids to attend a new school. We visited the school many times and organized play dates with new comers. We made a difficult decision picking a right afterschool program that bus goes to. Finally we are feeling comfortable for our child to start a new life at this new school. I hope that we can raise our voice.
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Examiner Reader said:
I think the writer may have missed a more interesting angle. According to the public data from the California Department of Education, San Francisco’s public high schools continue to be an entry point to the public school system rather than an exit point. To illustrate this point, here is the SFUSD’s enrollment data for the past several years, taken from the CDE website (www.cde.ca.gov): 2007-2008: 5,529 9th graders 2006-07: 6,030 9th graders and 3,982 8th graders 2005-06: 6,050 9th and 4,273 8th 2004-05: 5,438 9th and 4,196 8th Comparing any given year’s 8th grade SFUSD enrollment to the following year’s 9th grade SFUSD enrollment, it becomes clear than several hundred students ENTER the public school system for high school, presumably from private or parochial middle schools. The fact that, for each of the last three years, over 1,500 students ENTERED the SFUSD for 9th grade is a very significant and positive message about the quality of the public high schools
0 agree | 1 disagree
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Neighborhood Schools = Segregation said:
Odd that a city that prides itself on progressivism and projects itself as a paragon of diversity is so severely Balkanized. Calls emanating from some communities demanding "neighborhood schools" are thinly-veiled appeals for ethnic and class segregation. I attended hearings at the SFUSD a few years back and was shocked when some Chinese-American parents (frequently thru interpreters) insisted that they did not want their kids, described as model scholars who respected their parents and teachers and were hungry to learn, to study alongside black and Latino/Chicano children, characterized as brutal thugs with a profound aversion to discipline and education. I was shocked by their ignorance and racism, but perhaps not terribly surprised. Such scenarios once more expose San Francisco as a provincial little town rife with racialized tensions, despite its veneer of sophistication, urbanism and tolerance.
4 agree | 6 disagree
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Neighborhood Schools = Segregation said:
Odd that a city that prides itself on progressivism and projects itself as a paragon of diversity is so severely Balkanized. Calls emanating from some communities demanding "neighborhood schools" are thinly-veiled appeals for ethnic and class segregation. I attended hearings at the SFUSD a few years back and was shocked when some Chinese-American parents (frequently thru interpreters) insisted that they did not want their kids, described as model scholars who respected their parents and teachers and were hungry to learn, to study alongside black and Latino/Chicano children, characterized as brutal thugs with a profound aversion to discipline and education. I was shocked by their ignorance and racism, but perhaps not terribly surprised. Such scenarios once more expose San Francisco as a provincial little town rife with racialized tensions, despite its veneer of sophistication, urbanism and tolerance.
4 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The lottery system is not the answer. Maybe instead of busing children in order to integrate schools, we could reapply the $7 million saved to improve the low performing schools. ($5 million busing + $2 million staffing). Both my children were in the 37% that did not get into their first choice for school. That makes me less inclined to contribute any money to their school's requests for donations of $250 - $500/year.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Lowell has always been the best high school the City has to offer. It's too bad the Stupid Board of Education looks at Lowell as the ugly step sister (e.g., no funding for improvements, always trying to canabalize the admission process, trying to fix things that aren't broken etc.).
9 agree | 4 disagree
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