Student Success Fund

All schools who meet the following criteria will be eligible to apply for the Student Success Fund Grant:

The Eligible School must have a School Site Council that has endorsed the Eligible School’s grant funding proposal and has committed to supporting the implementation of the programs and/or staffing funded by the grant.

The Eligible School must have a full-time Community School Coordinator, or must plan to hire and in fact hire a Community School Coordinator, who will serve in a leadership role working alongside the Eligible School’s principal in implementing the grant and ensuring that the programs funded by the grant integrate with and enhance the Eligible School’s academic programs, social/emotional supports, and other programming.

The Eligible School must agree to coordinate with City departments and with the District’s administration to ensure that all resources, strategies, and programs at the Eligible School best serve students and their families.

The SSF will provide grants to individual schools for programs that improve student academic achievement and social/emotional wellness. One model to achieve the purposes of this Fund is the community school framework that has been implemented across the country with proven outcomes in academic achievement and student success. To help students succeed in the classroom, this framework bolsters current resources available in schools, and may include academic support, social/emotional interventions, strategies to address persistent poverty and trauma, or support for families to secure stability. The Fund would also pay for potential grants to the School District to establish programs that improve student academic achievement and social/emotional wellness at a school or group of schools.

Eligible Schools may not use Student Success Grants or Technical Assistance Grants to pay for the Eligible School’s or the District’s costs to provide Core Staffing.

Under Proposition G, each year the City would place money in the Fund, as follows:

Fiscal Year 2023–2024: $11 million

Fiscal Year 2024–2025: $35 million

Fiscal Year 2025–2026: $45 million

Fiscal Year 2026–2027: $60 million

The City would make contributions to the Fund through fiscal year 2037–38 and the amounts would be adjusted annually. The yearly increase in fund amounts is directly related to the San Francisco's economic forecast, as stated in the Charter.

DCYF and SFUSD worked tirelessly to ensure that the planning process for funds distribution was deeply collaborative. The result was a cohesive and transformative vision that ensured transparency, accountability and fidelity to the legislation for the first funding cycle. In Winter 2024, DCYF released grant applications for both Readiness and Implementation Grants. A committee reviewed the submissions and sites were awarded in Spring 2024. Please see Grant Award Information for details.

A collaborative governance body will be created to provide advisory oversight and accountability to the fund. While the operational administration, management, monitoring and awarding of Student Success Grants, Technical Assistance Grants to Eligible Schools will be managed by DCYF & SFUSD.

Community Based Organizations are key partners in supporting the whole child in our schools. Student Success Grant Applications are submitted by Eligible Schools and approved by the School Site Council. All interested CBOs should discuss, develop and design coordinated partnerships and programs with Eligible School leadership in order to be included in the grant application and plan.

An example of a robust collaborative model for this is shown below:

This model assumes the school site is at a high functioning level of readiness and has a high functioning School Site Council with robust representation and participation and a highly competent and experienced Community School Coordinator who has access to school data, connected to community partners and understands the complex needs and assets of the school community.

Step 1: Community School Coordinator in partnership with School Site Council identifies student & family needs through conducting a community needs assessment. Example tools can be found here.

Step 2: Community School Coordinator in partnership with School Site Council conducts a current landscape analysis to identify existing resources and gaps (such as staffing, programs and partnerships) to address the identified needs.

Step 3: Community School Coordinator engages the school wide community (families, students, faculty/staff, community partners) to solicit feedback to prioritize the most significant gaps and related services.

Step 4: Community School Coordinator in partnership with the SSC identifies staffing, partners and programs that would fill existing gaps and write a plan.

Step 5: The plan is approved by the SSC.

Step 6: The plan is submitted for funding as part of the SSF Grant Application in Winter 2023.

The first year of funding of the student success plan will be focused on four identified priority areas:

Rapid Response: Flexible fund set aside for crisis and emergency needs from school sites. These one time funds will be accessible year round and available for short term, small amounts to address urgent needs. Resources will be limited to $25K per school. Example: A school that is experiencing increased and unexpected violence in their community could apply for funding for Trauma Informed Care Counselors to be deployed to work directly with students.

Critical Non Core Staffing: Schools may identify critical non core staffing positions that schools need to be filled that currently do not have funding for the SY 2023-24.

School Readiness: First year funds to support readiness at school site to hire community school coordinator to provide essential staffing to strengthen readiness and preparation grant application & implementation. These will be one time funds that would roll into school grant proposals. Technical assistance and support to school through coaching, consulting, mentorship and training for School Site Council (SSC). Example: A school that does not currently have a staff member dedicated to school partnership coordination, such as a Community School Coordinator or Beacon Director could apply for Year 1 readiness funds to hire for that position to begin the planning, coordination, community needs assessment and partnership development required for SSF grant submission, implementation and management.

Workforce Pipeline - Innovation Grant: This priority focuses on addressing workforce shortages in after school staffing, para professional staffing, and school social worker and school district nurse staffing.

More details on the process to apply for Year 1 funds will be available by September 1, 2023.