(KRON) – San Francisco Public Montessori is one of the schools facing potential closure, according to the San Francisco Unified School District. Parents are now rallying against the school district’s announcement, claiming SFPM provides an invaluable education to their children they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.  Unlike traditional education, Montessori schools encourage children to focus on activities that interest them. Research shows that a Montessori education benefits a student’s language and math skills and provides a more positive school experience overall.  SFPM is currently the only public Montessori school in San Francisco. According to a letter sent to SFUSD, parents claim closing the school would "restrict Montessori education only to families who can afford private school tuition." SFUSD's tuition for private Montessori schools ranges from $30,000 to $40,000. According to SFUSD’s School Accountability Report Card from 2023, SFPM’s enrollment is 49% economically disadvantaged. “Families are located all across the city, from the Tenderloin to the Fillmore to the Bayview. These families are specifically coming here for a Montessori program, which would be otherwise inaccessible to them,” SFPM parents said in part.  SF mayor calls for ‘immediate stop’ to SFUSD school closures On Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed joined these parents in voicing opposition to SFUSD’s potential closures, but instead of SFPM, she directed her efforts toward the school closure process as a whole.  “I am asking for the school district to hold off on this process,” the mayor told KRON4, claiming that originally, at the beginning of the school year, these closures were not deemed “necessary.”  “The way this process has been rolled out, the communication and understanding behind the process, the information about the scores… There’s been too much confusion, there’s been too much fear, and it is something that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible,” Breed said. “We want to support our children, our educators, and our families overall… But we have to be able to give them clear communication and not fly by the seat of our pants whilst making adjustments in the middle of a commitment that has been made… It’s just been a bit of a whirlwind,” she said.  Breed claims there were also “major communication issues” between her “Stabilization Team” and SFUSD, claiming the school district did not follow some of the consultations the team provided. “The Stabilization Team is meant to give advice. The school board can decide whether to take the advice or not,” the mayor said.  Breed believes it’s not up to her but to the school board to decide whether or not to continue employing Superintendent Matt Wayne. The letter to keep the school open, written by SFPM parents, can be found here.