As election nears, two San Francisco faculty board members going through recall conflict

Two San Francisco school board members facing a recall squared off Wednesday night, with Alison Collins and Faauuga Moliga publicly clashing over their plan to spend money on a new parent advisory committee as the district tries to pare back expenses.

It was a heated disagreement less than two weeks before an election day that could see both removed from office.

The conflict unfolded during a budget committee meeting looking at the impact of a resolution by Collins to create a Queer Transgender Parent Advisory Council and add a central office staff position to support the group.

Moliga, who chaired the meeting, questioned the financial impact of the measure, which would cost an estimated $260,000 in start-up costs as well as $220,000 annually for a district staff person.

The district faces a $125 million shortfall next year, which has resulted in the appointment of a state expert to help guide financial decisions, including a recent recommendation to freeze all but critical spending and hiring. The conflict reflects what’s at stake personally for these board members and how passionate commissioners have become on the issues facing the district from the budget crisis to equity to the role of families in public education.

With two of the three committee members present, Moliga declined to support moving the measure forward until further review, which meant it was not guaranteed to up for vote at the next school board meeting Tuesday — the last one before the Feb. 15 recall vote.

He wanted the board to consider several upcoming resolutions, including this one, in a committee of the whole meeting to prioritize spending and identify funding sources.

“We’re in a budget deficit,” he said Thursday. “I was trying to be really responsible in moving forward and making decisions. Our sole responsibility (on the budget committee) is to vet items, to figure out the fiscal impact.”

Collins took to Twitter during the meeting, writing “Commissioner Molinga said he could not support moving the resolution forward without ‘further fiscal analysis’. Make no mistake, this is a tactic.” She also retweeted a message that called him “spineless.”

Collins did not respond to a request for comment on the interaction.

Moliga said he did not see the tweets and preferred not to read them, adding he fully supports the queer and trans community and would not be pulled into a fight. His only goal, he said, was to “show leadership for the people.”

“We have to figure out how we pay for all these things so that it makes sense,” he said. “If (Collins) wants to have a conversation, she can give me a call.”

Collins had not identified funding sources for the measure.

Board President Gabriela López, who also faces a recall and has been aligned with Collins on many issues, tweeted Thursday that she would place the measure on Tuesday’s agenda despite a lack of support from the budget committee.

Collins also publicly criticized Moliga last year. She accused him of not respecting women when he was nominated for the vice presidency in 2021 after the board removed Collins from the position in the wake of the rediscovery of her offensive tweets comparing Asian Americans to “house n****r[s].”

Collins was also stripped of committee assignments, including her seat on the budget committee.

Collins’ resolution, which seeks “Equitable Representation and Services for Two-Spirit Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) Parents and Families,” is among several measures adopted or considered by the board in the past two years to support specific demographic groups, including African Americans, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and English learners.

The school board currently hears from 14 advisory councils and committees, and four of them have central office staff liaison.

Collins’ queer and transgender resolution would require leadership of the associated parent advisory council to be parents or caregivers who identify as “2SLGBTQIA+,” even if their children who are students in the district don’t.

Heterosexual parents or caregivers and those who are not transgender would not be able to hold leadership positions despite the gender or sexuality of their children.

District staff recommended adopting the queer transgender resolution only if the board identified funding or budget cuts to pay for it given the district’s financial crisis. The board recently adopted a budget balancing plan to cover the deficit, which included $50 million in cuts to schools.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Jilltucker