Meeting Time: March 31, 2021 at 6:00pm PDT
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Agenda Item

D.-2 21-0804 Approval by the Board of Education of Tentative Agreement as Agreement Between the District and the Oakland Education Association Regarding Impacts and Effects of Reopening Schools in Spring of 2021.

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    Katherine WebbMartinez over 3 years ago

    As parents of a 5th grader, we implore OUSD to follow the example of other surrounding public districts and numerous private schools to provide more in person instruction before the end of THIS school year. The CDC guidance is clear this is safe, with the 3 ft. rule there is no need for cohorts and our county is in the orange tier. OUSD must return FULL time in-person this Fall for the 2021-22 school year, or families will lose faith and leave.

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    Selam Brown over 3 years ago

    Our kids are suffering while neighboring schools are open 5 days/wk. Why are Oakland kids at a disadvantage when we are able to sit inside a restaurant, go to a gym, etc but Oakland kids can’t return to school 5 days/wk? You are now out of excuses as we move into the next tier. You have simply failed as leaders and your are running out of time to fix it!! Commit to reopening schools in the fall 100% in person no hybrid!!! Do better Oakland and stop putting children last!! Our kids deserve a proper education like kids all over the country. Enough is enough!!!

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    CYNTHIA ZAVALZA over 3 years ago

    While I am glad that the funding on the table pushed forward the opening of the schools to at least a minimum level, we ALL owe our Oakland children so much more. I encourage this group to use that same level of proactive momentum to lean into helping our kids get back to school full time in the fall (and sooner). The science is supports this, we're in the orange tier and we've already figured out a process for getting kids back to school to a degree. It's time to put politics second and CHILDREN FIRST. Please put your focus and efforts into opening schools. Education was my way out of a disadvantaged, lower income upbringing and we HAVE to work hard to provide that opportunity to all kids especially those that really need this opportunity.

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    Donald Duggan over 3 years ago

    I am commenting as grandfather of two OUSD elementary school children. I am concerned that OUSD has not yet committed to open the schools full time in August. I feel I have failed my grandchildren and children by encouraging them to stay with OUSD - I told them that it was the right thing to do for the community. I should have encouraged them to sign up for private school or some other alternative to Oakland. I will not make that mistake again.

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    Brian OShea over 3 years ago

    The lack of an announced action plan to firmly commit to a full - in-person - re-open (5-days a week) for the children of Oakland Unified this Fall is past the point of question. If you claim you're following the science, then DO IT. For the sake of the education, growth and development of the children you are sworn to serve. Counties and districts all across the Bay, state, nation and globe have found ways to do it. The CDC has laid functional and proven groundwork. Vaccinations have been prioritized for teachers and are projected to be at 90% of the US by July. There is absolutely zero reason why full Fall schedules are not being promoted, enacted and solidified at this stage. People need to plan, coordinate and prepare. I fear if you do not, the exodus of families that I'm seeing all around us will continue...at the expense of the teachers, the schools and remaining students. Do what's right, present a REAL plan and strategy and act vs just speaking.

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    Daniel Hurst over 3 years ago

    I'm the parent of a 9th grader at Oakland Tech.

    All stakeholders need to formally commit to have all OUSD students in classrooms by mid-April. All stakeholders have had ample time to figure out how to make this happen, as numerous districts around the state have done.

    Even six hours each week in small groups sitting outside would be better than letting our children continue to suffer the effects of screen learning.

    All educators and support staff have had ample time to get vaccinated. Fear is no reason to delay a rational decision supported by transparent science… especially since so many parents of the children of OUSD hold jobs that they worked at for a year without vaccines.

    Even more important, all stakeholders must agree to the return of all students full-time in August 2021.

    Anything less would be both a dismal failure for the children of Oakland and call to action for aggressive structural changes to OUSD to end decades of misfeasance and dysfunction.

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    Sharon Dovas over 3 years ago

    The School Board needs to ensure a full reopening for the Fall. We are SO GRATEFUL that our 2nd grader experienced being inside of a classroom yesterday, but 2.5 hrs x 2 days a week is NOT ENOUGH and is unrealistic for working parents. We need to learn from surrounding districts and who are back fulltime and making it work. It's time for the board to ensure Full Time For All by the start of school in the fall. Thank you.

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    Open Schools over 3 years ago

    Why should children in surrounding district be given the opportunity to attend school in-person full time, but OUSD will deny our children the same access to quality instruction. My child asked if he can go to school in Berkeley because his friends get to go to school in person five days a week. He asked why he is being treated differently. Are children in Oakland more contagious? Are the vaccines in Oakland not as good as the vaccines in Berkeley? No, I said. The answer is that the union and the district have a better relationship and trust between them. That answer was not satisfying to my eight year old who wants to learn in a classroom with his teachers and classmates. Do better - listen to the science and make in-person learning full time a reality for all children in Oakland!

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    Melissa Hunter over 3 years ago

    I want to encourage the board to ensure a full reopening for Fall. Two hours a day, 2x a week is not enough. This schedule does not work for working parents. Other districts have opened and are fully back. It is time for real progress.

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    Ross Lindell over 3 years ago

    We need to go further for Oakland's children. OUSD needs to support more in-person this Fall 2021-22 school year in light of recent developments such CDC/CA/Alameda County 3ft distancing recommendation, Alameda in Orange tier, vaccinated people cannot carry virus (per CDC).

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    Maggie Fancher over 3 years ago

    In light of the reduced distancing requirement, cohort sizes should be increased and more school hours should be offered. Parents are being forced to opt out of in-person learning because the limited schedule is impossible to do for working parents!

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    Pamela Schwartz over 3 years ago

    Please make a commitment NOW to fully reopen to pre-covid levels for the Fall.

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    Elizabeth Lincoln over 3 years ago

    I encourage the board to do more, much more, to ensure that our schools, principals, teachers, parents, and children are well prepared for school to reopen full time in the fall for all students. Please incorporate the new science on matters of reopening, such as 3ft distance requirements, vaccinations preventing transmission, and Alameda County reaching the orange tier for COVID. Our kids are depending on you--we are all depending on you to push forward the best solutions for the community you serve. I feel very left out as an OUSD parent. My first grader attends Peralta and her teacher opted out of early return. I have no faith in the district or the union to look out for the best interests of our families. I want my child to stay in her school but we will consider our options if there continues to be no clear plan for fulltime for all in the fall!

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    Apa Sohoni over 3 years ago

    I am very grateful for OUSD to have started the process of reopening. As an ER physician, I have been deeply involved with the covid pandemic and how it has affected our communities here in the Bay Area. I believe in the data showing safety in school settings-- both for teachers and students-- with essentially negligible numbers of new cases and cases linked to transmission within the school setting. My hope is that everyone feels empowered to INCREASE the hours of in-person schooling, REDUCE spacing to 3 feet, MAINTAIN masks and symptom screening, and ENJOY watching our children get back to the work of learning and growing that they so love to do! We have the data and the experience to support doing MORE for our kids, so please let's move forward to making that happen!

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    Annie Gottbehuet over 3 years ago

    While I am glad that my Kindergartner could go back this week, I am increasingly displeased at the lack of progress by OUSD to get kids back in school full time. Over half of public school kids in the country are back 5 days a week. That number will only continue to increase. Meanwhile we get 5 hours a week while infection rates continue downward, teachers are largely vaccinated, and the CDC has published science based directives to decrease spacing for schools. Our children deserve more. Please make a commitment to open schools for 5 days, full time in the fall. Additionally, open cohorts to allow kids to attend more than 2, 2.5 hours sessions per week this school year.

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    Ema Jitsukawa over 3 years ago

    I’d like OUSD to make the same commitment other neighboring districts like BUSD and Piedmont have made to reassure their families that the district plans to open schools fully in the fall by issuing a strong statement. I’d also like to see the district allocate new funds to address equity so that ALL students, not just some, feel safe and welcome returning to in-person learning. Inequity should not prevent OUSD students from returning to In-person learning. Is it true that McClymonds High School has lead and their drinking water is unsafe (still)? What is the district’s plan for their students? I ask for your leadership so that OUSD students in ALL sections of our community have a chance to get back to school safely and not get left behind.

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    Lauren Hunt over 3 years ago

    We need a firm commitment that we will back in school full-time in the fall. We are so worried that we will have to leave our beloved school and OUSD if this does not happen, but we can simply put our kids through another year of "doom school". Scientific evidence is abundantly clear that kids need to be in school in person!!

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    Elham Najjar over 3 years ago

    Please consider having students return for PE and extracurricular activities. We do not need students in school on zoom. We need them to socialize and interact. Let’s be honest about what a “return to school” actually means. If no in person teaching is happening, learn from other districts and make it a time for extra curricular activities so they can learn how to socialize again. I am strictly referring to high school.

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    Jake Scott over 3 years ago

    Children can’t afford to lose any more in-person learning time. It’s imperative for their sake, and for the sake of families and our communities, that schools be open full time and in person by the fall, without more than three feet of distancing requirements. There’s more than enough epidemiologic evidence to support the safe reopening of schools without further sacrificing the educational and psychosocial experience and health of students and the health and safety of our teachers and staff, whom we value and deeply appreciate. Thank you.

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    Dina Frandsen over 3 years ago

    While I am grateful to see pictures of, hear the stories about & see the smiles on the kids faces who have been able to return this week-this is late and it is not enough. It is clear that politics & activism has lost it's way in connection w/OUSD & the KIDS are the ones who are suffering because of it. Funding is coming & w/the funding, you need to get back to the basics: improve facilities that need it, create classrooms w/fantastic technology that can stream classes to kids who may be home due to illness , quarantines or other- pay the teachers well, but keep them completely accountable. Demand more instructional time for the kids & results. 5 full days of school is a MUST& if you do not commit to that immediately for next fall you will deteriorate the district. We are in Orange tier, close to yellow tier #s, Oakland zip codes are all out of purple, 40% of all Oakland residents over 16 have a vaccination shot. It's time to focus on the kids- and to demand excellence from the adults.