Meeting Time: June 10, 2020 at 4:00pm PDT
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Agenda Item

X.-1 20-1335 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 1920-0260 - George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department

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    Alicia Santurio over 4 years ago

    I strongly support the George Floyd Resolution. 6.5 million dollars should be spent enriching childrens lives not policing them. Please do the right thing by the kids and end the policing of Oakland schools. Thank you

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    Amy Dinh over 4 years ago

    I live in Oakland's District 1, work in student services at UC Berkeley, and served as a volunteer tutor for several years in Oakland schools. I strongly support the George Floyd Resolution and urge the OUSD board of education to unanimously adopt it, for the safety and well-being of all students in Oakland. Reinvest the funds towards school-based social workers, psychologists, restorative justice practitioners, and other mental or behavioral health professionals--trained professionals who will nurture their growth, rather than police officers who are trained to treat them as criminals and whose presence is physically and emotionally traumatizing. The families of OUSD students have been campaigning for years to get rid of OPD in schools. They have long said that their presence makes students feel less safe, not more. The Board must listen to them and act swiftly.

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    Belinda Liu over 4 years ago

    As an Oakland resident, I urgently support this resolution. I think its disgusting that so much money has been diverted from resources for students and instead spent on a force that at best distracts students in their education, and at worst threatens their safety. I ask that you all vote on this resolution at the next meeting on June 24th.

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    Meredith Wilkinson over 4 years ago

    I urge you to adopt this resolution. We do not need police in schools. Our kids need funding to go to smaller classroom sizes, equipment, nurses, counselors, etc. Please follow the leadership of other school boards in other cities that have passed similar resolutions. Thank you.

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    Molly Nicola over 4 years ago

    I strongly support 20-1335 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 1920-0260 - George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department. Oakland's youth deserver's better from our schools. Police presence in schools increases the unjust and racist school-to-prison pipeline, teaches violence and increases discrimination and violence against BIPOC students. If we remove the police presence from schools, the budget recovered could be spent on better resources for our students such as school counselors, after-school programming, school nurses, social workers and smaller classrooms.
    Please make our schools better for our youth~! They deserve better!

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    Marylin Zuniga over 4 years ago

    My name is Marylin Zuniga and I am a resident and elementary school teacher in Oakland. I am the educational director of Mycelium Youth Network, a non-profit dedicated to work with climate change and environmental racism. I am also the co-founder of Quetzal Education Consulting, a Bay Area consulting firm that provides culturally sustaining solutions to schools, non-profits, parents and families. I support the resolution No 1920-0260 George Floyd Resolution to eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department. Quetzal Education Consulting and Mycelium Youth Network support the resolution No. 1920-0260 George Floy Resolution to eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department.

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    Jennifer Jackson over 4 years ago

    I urge you to adopt this resolution. We must shift our priorities toward providing support services to those in need, rather than putting those folks into the hands of law enforcement who are not trained to help people, rather only to incarcerate. We need to reduce trauma, most especially our black and brown students.

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    Shelby Romuk over 4 years ago

    Eliminate the Oakland School Police Force and use these funds to build community-based models for safety, support, and prevention.

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    Deleted User over 4 years ago

    I'm writing in strong support of this measure. Police are not needed in schools! We need to invest in other services that are necessary for the support and education of these students. School police departments are inherently racist and feed the school to prison pipeline. Our students need support: they need counselors, social service workers, after school programs, career services - they do not need to be policed! If we truly value the education and the futures of our students, we will invest in programs that support them, not criminalize them! If you do not support this measure, it will reveal that you do not actually have these students' best interests at heart. Do the right thing. Police free schools now!!

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    Alyssa Baldocchi over 4 years ago

    I'm an OUSD teacher and fully support this resolution. Schools need to be sanctuaries, and policing ensures that they are not. If it's not enough to hear students and families saying it, Black Organizing Project's People’s Plan for Police-Free Schools presents overwhelming evidence that policing in schools is detrimental to the wellbeing and success of students of color. My newcomer students' first experiences in the US are often in ICE detainment -- they need social workers and after school programming and safe school facilities, not further policing in their place of learning.

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    Madison Ordway over 4 years ago

    Hi there- I am a Berkeley Law student who works with young people who live in Oakland, attend OUSD schools, and have had contact with the criminal justice system. Its high time that OUSD recognizes that having police in schools puts students at risk, rather than making them safer. Systems involvement begets systems involvement, and when a school relies on police for its disciplinary actions, it forces (predominantly black and latino boys) into the juvenile justice system. From there, the cycle builds on itself. Court monitoring surveils young people, and criminalizes slip ups that can result in placement in out of home facilities, which statistically leads to further systems contact later in life. The money that currently goes to policing children should be diverted to restorative practices that help build relationships among students, and between students and staff that develops communication and conflict resolution skills that young people will carry with for life. Best, Madison

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    Gala King over 4 years ago

    I'm a resident of Oakland, a parent of two kids in OUSD, and I work with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, a statewide organization that works with the faith community and families impacted by incarceration and detention. I'm in full support of this Resolution to eliminate the Oakland School Police Department and reinvest in mental health services, counselors, restorative justice staff, and other resources that support our students! I support the Black Organizing Project's People's Plan that has been developed after years of community organizing and outreach in Oakland's black community, who are disproportionately impacted by the police.

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    Jenna Shay over 4 years ago

    Not sure how my previous submission has gone missing but—

    Vote YES in favor of the George Floyd Resolution! Take action to address systemic racism. Invest in student needs: school nurses, counselors, and social welfare programs, rather than reactive policing.

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    Deleted User over 4 years ago

    I'm Saundra, an Oakland resident, and I'm writing in support of the Resolution No. 1920-0260 - George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department. Let's redirect our resources from policing students and apply them to education, mental/physical health services, and programs that actually prepare our youth for a bright and beautiful future.

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    Caroline McKeown over 4 years ago

    I am a resident of Oakland and I support this George Floyd Resolution support removing police from Oakland schools. I want to see our students supported by reissuing those funds into mental health services, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, and other community building and risk reducing services. This is an imperative move in the right direction of offering meaningful and life changing opportunities rather than continuing a cycle of bias in enforcement and reduction of access to school-bases resources.

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    Susan Hammer over 4 years ago

    I urge you to adopt the George Floyd Resolution as an avenue to allocate funds from a police presence to programs that are essential to schools and students. I was shocked to recently learn that there are schools in Oakland that do not even have a library! Libraries are a fundamental part of learning and education and every school in Oakland should have one. There are other programs that our schools and students need to prepare them for their future such as mental health providers and counselors. I also hear of teachers that have to use their own money to provide supplies for their classroom. Certainly, the funds allocated for police could be redirected to fund worthwhile programs. Thank you for taking my views into consideration.

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    Jeff Gonzalez over 4 years ago

    It's pretty fascist to leave the item that is of the most interest to the public (200 comments and counting) to the very end of the meeting until people will have logged off

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    Robert Peters over 4 years ago

    Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department and put the youth in the hands of the community instead of these violent and racist police.

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    Anthony OToole over 4 years ago

    I am a home owner and an Alameda teacher. I have personally had to de-escalate tense violent situations with students and police officers are not acting in a proper way. They do not give space, they do not have a personal relation and their presence can be triggering to students. We can offer better services with that money. I fully support BOP's demand to eliminate the school police department.

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    Elizabeth Hargrett over 4 years ago

    The Oakland Police Department have a long-standing history of violence toward Oakland's community members, and the police hired by the OUSD have perpetrated violence upon both the students of Oakland and their parents. I urge OUSD to sever ties with the OSPD, and redirect available funds to programs that will actually serve Oakland's students. Many departments and graduate student communities at UC Berkeley are urging Chancellor Christ to do the same.