San Francisco Unified School District

What San Francisco Unified School District does

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is a public K-12 school district founded in 1851, operating 127 schools serving approximately 50,000 students from Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade across San Francisco. The district is a government entity under the governance of an elected Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Maria Su leading operations. SFUSD delivers comprehensive educational services including general academics, advanced placement and college preparatory coursework, language pathway programs in 8+ languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Arabic, Vietnamese), special education including a newly launched Extensive Support Needs county school, multilingual learner programs, athletics, arts, and free school meals for all students. The district also provides student support services for English Learners, foster youth, immigrant and refugee youth, and LGBTQ students.

SFUSD's core operational technology includes a district-wide digital learning infrastructure built on Clever single sign-on as the authentication gateway, Google Workspace for Education (Classroom, Drive, Meet, Docs, etc.) as the productivity backbone, and Seesaw as the PreK-12 digital learning platform, with ParentVUE and Student Portal providing family and student access to grades, attendance, and assignments. The district is deploying what is described as the largest bidirectional electric school bus fleet in the United States through a partnership with Zum, utilizing Zum's Connected Mobility Experience (CMX) platform with vehicle-to-grid capabilities that return approximately 3 gigawatt-hours of clean energy to the local grid annually. SFUSD also maintains an AI literacy curriculum built on third-party resources from Code.org, Common Sense Media, and MIT's Everyday AI, and is piloting CareerVillage's AI-powered career coaching platform.

SFUSD's funding model relies on California state education funding formulas, local parcel taxes, voter-approved general obligation bonds (including a 2024 measure focused on safety, modernization, and healthy school meals), EPA Region 9 / California Energy Commission / Bay Area Air Quality Management District / PG&E grants for the electric bus program, and philanthropic donations channeled through SPARK SF Public Schools and partners such as GENYOUth. The district operates under state fiscal oversight due to a reported $100 million deficit, resolved a four-day teacher strike in February 2026 with a $183 million settlement, and faces federal regulatory scrutiny regarding gender identity policies. Customer segments include the general K-12 student population, English Learners, students with disabilities, and at-risk youth including foster and immigrant youth.

Name

San Francisco Unified School District

Legal name

San Francisco Unified School District

Website

https://sfusd.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1851

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is a public K-12 school district founded in 1851, operating 127 schools serving approximately 50,000 TK-13 students in San Francisco through comprehensive academic, multilingual, special education, and student support programs funded by state formulas, parcel taxes, and bonds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public K-12 Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public K–12 Combined Schools (EDAJAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Elementary Schools (EDAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Public K-12 education
• Special education services
• Multilingual learner programs
• School transportation services
• Free school meal programs

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Voter-Approved Bond Measures: San Francisco voters approved a 2024 general obligation bond measure focusing on safety, modernization, and healthy school meals to fund necessary facilities improvements for San Francisco public schools
2. State and Local Funding: District receives funding from California state education funding formulas and local sources, including parcel taxes. District faces $100 million deficit and operates under state oversight due to long-standing financial crisis
3. Grant Programs: Funding for electric bus deployment supported through grants and incentive programs from EPA Region 9, California Energy Commission, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and PG&E
4. Philanthropic Donations: Anonymous tech worker donated $1.6 million to SPARK SF Public Schools distributed as $250 gift cards to approximately 6,000 teachers and teacher's aides

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SFUSD is a public K-12 school district operating 127 schools in San Francisco, serving approximately 50,000 students from Early Education through 12th grade. The district delivers general education, special education services, multilingual learner programs, and language pathway immersion programs, complemented by free school meals, digital learning infrastructure, and a large-scale electric school bus transportation system.

Product overview

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is a public school district providing comprehensive K-12 education services across approximately 120 schools serving nearly 50,000 students. The district operates as a unified educational platform offering general education, special education services (including a new Extensive Support Needs School), multilingual learner programs, and language pathways including Mandarin Dual Language Immersion. SFUSD provides digital learning infrastructure including Clever single sign-on, Google Workspace for Education tools (Classroom, Drive, Meet, etc.), and Seesaw for PreK-12 instruction. The district has launched a major electric school bus initiative with 104 EVs deploying in August 2026 powered by Zum's Connected Mobility Experience platform with vehicle-to-grid capabilities. Additional services include ParentVUE/Family Portal, Student Portal, Student Family School Resource Link, free school meals through Revolution Foods, Shared Schoolyard community programs, and innovation awards for staff.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• K-12 Public Education Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Expected $3.5 million in annual transportation cost savings from electric bus deployment
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SPARK SF Public SchoolsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2026Nonprofit foundation for San Francisco Unified School District that received a $1.6 million anonymous donation from a tech worker, distributed as $250 gift cards to nearly 6,000 teachers and teacher's aides.
• ZumcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2026Zum, a California-based student transportation provider, is deploying the largest bidirectional electric school bus fleet in the United States for SFUSD, with 104 electric buses entering service in August 2026 and plans to reach 238 EVs by 2027-28. The fleet utilizes Zum's Connected Mobility Experience (CMX) platform with vehicle-to-grid capabilities.
• EPA Region 9coreOthers · 1 May 2026Funding and incentive programs supporting the deployment of 238 electric school buses for SFUSD through EPA Region 9 grants and programs.
• California Energy CommissioncoreOthers · 1 May 2026Funding support for the electric school bus deployment through California Energy Commission incentive programs.
• Bay Area Air Quality Management DistrictcoreOthers · 1 May 2026Funding support for the electric school bus deployment supporting air quality improvements in the Bay Area.
• PG&EcoreOthers · 1 May 2026Utility company supporting the electric bus project through vehicle-to-grid infrastructure and incentive programs.
• GENYOUthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026GENYOUth's 2026 Taste of the NFL event raised $1.5 million to expand access to 75 million school meals across 500 schools benefiting 275,000 students in all 32 NFL club markets nationwide. The Super Schools initiative delivered Grab and Go meal equipment packages to more than 60 Bay Area schools.
• Oakland Unified School DistrictminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026OUSD is piloting an AI literacy curriculum during the 2025-2026 school year developed using resources from Code.org, Common Sense Media, and MIT's Everyday AI, with funding partly from Salesforce's $13 million donation to Bay Area schools. SFUSD is mentioned as part of broader Bay Area adoption.
• Revolution FoodsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Revolution Foods piloted compostable school lunch packaging in all 95 SFUSD schools, replacing plastic trays with sugarcane-based compostable trays. The initiative aimed to eliminate up to 3,000 pounds of plastic waste monthly, driven by student activism.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Seattle Public Schools: Pacific Northwest urban district of similar scale (~50,000 students) with comparable equity, multilingual, and budget-stabilization narratives.
• Houston Independent School District: Large diverse urban district (~190,000 students) with extensive dual-language programs and comparable state-oversight risk profile.
• Los Angeles Unified School District: Largest public K-12 district in California, serving ~430,000 students across 1,000+ schools. Most directly comparable to SFUSD in governance, urban population, multilingual learner programs, and state-oversight context.
• Oakland Unified School District: Bay Area peer district explicitly named in SFUSD's data; OUSD is piloting the same AI literacy curriculum and shares similar multilingual, equity, and fiscal-challenge dynamics.
• New York City Department of Education: Largest US public school system (~1M students). Comparable urban public district with multilingual pathways, federal regulatory exposure, and bond-funded modernization programs.
• Chicago Public Schools: Major urban public district (~320,000 students) with comparable scale, magnet/language immersion programs, and historical labor-relations and deficit dynamics mirroring SFUSD.
• Boston Public Schools: Northeast urban district with similar ~50,000-student scale, multilingual learner populations, and an active sustainability/electric bus agenda.

Others

• Revolution Foods: School meal provider and partner piloting compostable packaging across SFUSD's 95 schools; representative of the contractor ecosystem supporting district nutrition and sustainability programs.
• Zum: Core technology partner for SFUSD's V2G electric bus fleet via the CMX platform; a vendor with deep operational integration and a model for district transportation modernization partnerships.

Regional players

• San Diego Unified School District: California peer of comparable scale (~120,000 students) operating under the same LCFF funding regime and California privacy/special-education mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/sfunified
• YouTubeyoutube.com/sfunified
• Facebookfacebook.com/sfunified
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10576
• Instagraminstagram.com/sfunified

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about San Francisco Unified School District