San Francisco superintendent offers to extend his stay if school board behaves

Usually, when a school board extends a superintendent’s contract by one year, it’s an indication of probation or a short leash. In San Francisco Unified, Superintendent Vincent Matthews has flipped the script on the school board.

On Tuesday, the embattled seven-member board will consider the one-year contract extension that Matthews is proposing, at the board’s request, to rescind the retirement he announced in March. The terms are best summed up by the San Francisco Chronicle headline: He’ll remain on the job “if board behaves.”

Specifically, reporter Jill Tucker writes, the revised contract would require the board to focus only on reopening schools and refrain from creating new programs and mandates until reopening issues are settled.

The extension would also force board members to follow existing rules that include one to “govern in a dignified and professional manner, treating everyone with civility and respect” and to show up prepared to board meetings. The latter Tucker said, refers to board members’ questions on tangential issues that have extended meetings until midnight.

Unusual and probably embarrassing as the demands are, the board may be facing an offer it can’t refuse. Given the turmoil of the past few months, hiring a good candidate to replace Matthews, even temporarily, would not be easy.

Among the recent controversies, City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the district over its slow reopening and sought a court order to force a full reopening this month; a Superior Court judge declined to issue it. Board member Alison Collins is suing five of her colleagues for $87 million after they stripped her of the vice presidency for tweets she made about Asian Americans in 2016. And the board faces another lawsuit over its plan, delayed for now, to expunge the names of  44 schools honoring individuals seen as having racist views or ties to slavery, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Three board members, including Collins, face a potential recall election.

Matthews is also demanding authority over hiring and firing of his staff, with board votes on senior staff contracts conducted in public rather than behind closed doors. Matthews has complained about the board’s second guessing and rejecting his nominations.