T.-3 21-3077 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 2122-0026 - Quality Instruction and Student Supports, Adequate Staffing, Competitive Compensation, and Long-Term Fiscal Stability.
As an OUSD teacher, I strongly oppose the district closing down any schools. Now is especially not the time to be closing schools and adding to the very disruptive year that students, families, teachers and communities have had.
The fact that the school board is even considering closing schools, in the middle of a global health crisis shows how out of touch these members are with what is actually happening in the schools they are supposed to be serving. Every time schools are closed it is based on standardized test schools which are commonly knows to not be indicators of a student's actual knowledge. The school board never spends adequite time in classrooms, seeing the work being done on the ground to support students in all the ways they need. Instead they look at schools serving students with the highest need and see a way to cut money. This displaces students, breaks apart communities, and undermines the actual sucess that these schools are seeing in areas of mental health, special education, and other specialized services. If you actually cared about your students, you wouldn't be closing their schools during one of the most vulnerable times in our recent history. Get your priorities straight.
We should not be discussing school closures and consolidations, especially during another COVID surge. I strongly oppose any school closures or consolidations, and any racist efforts to close majority Black schools.
I am strongly against yet another school closure that would detrimentally impact marginalized students, their families and the community at large. Just like the rest of students across the district, Prescott students deserve to continue learning at the school they call home. To deny them that opportunity would be an act of injustice.
I am an OUSD Educator and closing schools at the end of this pandemic year, after you voted just a few months ago not to do so due to the ongoing trauma of the pandemic, is cruel and unnecessary. Follow your own recently adopted policies and prioritize the well-being of students, families and staff as they continue to suffer a third year of trauma and uncertainty.
You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
I think the timing on this is insane! we are going though global pandemic and people have the time and energy to be thinking about shutting down more schools? shame on you for having poor timing! and shame on you again for not putting this enegery into how to make our schools safer during this very challenging time.
As an Oakland educator, I stongly oppose the closure of any schools. Consolidating and closing schools will only harm students and teachers. We deserve better. Closing schools at the end of this pandemic year, after you voted just a few months ago not to do so due to the ongoing trauma of the pandemic, is cruel and unnecessary. Follow your own recently adopted policies and prioritize the well-being of students, families and staff as they continue to suffer a third year of trauma and uncertainty.
You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
School closures - I understand that the topic of school closures is on the block again. Please consider keeping all schools open during this time of worrisome physical illness and exposure to the novel coronavirus. School closures negatively impact all students but more heavily negatively impact BIPOC students and especially BIPOC students who receive special education. The quality of education is diminished when schools are closed or combined. You lose the sense of community that exists with neighborhood schools. Do what's right for all students.
As a student in a small school like MetWest, me and my family strongly oppose the district closing down schools and consolidating them. We are currently still in a pandemic and closing down closing would just be thoughtless. The students at small schools all have different lives and by closing down schools it would affect students and their families and completely change their way of learning. A decision like this should not be made. The students are the ones that would be affected by this and the people on the board would not the ones experiencing the unexpected change. I believe that small schools are extremely beneficial to students because it gives teachers the opportunity to help students more and it makes their relationship stronger. Kids with more special needs have more opportunity and they can successfully learn and succeed in a smaller school. Small schools, in my opinion, help students better which is overall what everyone wants for students.
My name is Adrian Grays, one of many Core Leaders of the Reparations for Black Students Campaign.You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
I strongly oppose the district closing down schools that support powerful learning and treasured community building.
Small schools provide unparalleled learning experiences for students.
This is not the time to be closing schools and disrupting the powerful learning experiences for so many youth who are most marginalized.
Despite your best efforts to pretend that closing schools saves money, there is no evidence that it has happened in the 20 plus years of opening and closing schools in OUSD. What it has done is harm Black and Brown students. Since 2004, OUSD has closed or consolidated 23 schools, and 57% of impacted students were Black. Just 3% were white. Think about that. This is anti-Black racism perpetuated and repeated over and over again. You have made a commitment to Black students and families to repair the harm of your policies, and at the first opportunity you have abandoned that commitment - "notwithstanding" your promise to stop the white supremacist processes you have repeated over the years. The maj of schools with less than 400 students are predominantly Black. 4 of them are predominantly white. Will those schools be put forward in order to keep your commitment to Black students, to equity and racial justice? What is your "do different" OUSD to ensure that you don't repeat the harm?
THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO CLOSE SCHOOLS! We're still in a pandemic, in an Omicron surge, that's affecting the health and staffing of all our schools. This is no time to further disrupt and traumatize students, families, communities, and staff. The community cannot fully engage in the process when the pandemic restricts full access, including when meetings are virtual and often are webinars (making the public silent and invisible).
Thoughtlessly closing schools without community planning or input is going to create unnecessary chaos and division in our district. Rushing into this “plan” will result in more students and teachers leaving the district. I want to see the district meaningfully collaborate with families and school leaders to figure out the least harmful way to move forward.
The fact that a school closure is being discussed at the peak of yet another COVID-19 surge is sadly not surprising given the priorities of this board. What needs to be discussed now is how OUSD is keeping our students, schools, and communities safe as this pandemic continues to impact Oakland and beyond. Vote "no" on this resolution that will only continue to create hard for students and families.
As an Oakland teacher, I would just say this is such a chaotic time already. Surely we don’t need to add this kind of instability for our kids and families.
As an Oakland educator, I am strongly opposed to consolidating schools. This is the third school year disrupted by the pandemic and we need to be working towards stability and consistency for our students; schools closing would be devastating for our students and communities most impacted by the pandemic.
As an OUSD teacher, I strongly oppose the district closing down any schools. Now is especially not the time to be closing schools and adding to the very disruptive year that students, families, teachers and communities have had.
The fact that the school board is even considering closing schools, in the middle of a global health crisis shows how out of touch these members are with what is actually happening in the schools they are supposed to be serving. Every time schools are closed it is based on standardized test schools which are commonly knows to not be indicators of a student's actual knowledge. The school board never spends adequite time in classrooms, seeing the work being done on the ground to support students in all the ways they need. Instead they look at schools serving students with the highest need and see a way to cut money. This displaces students, breaks apart communities, and undermines the actual sucess that these schools are seeing in areas of mental health, special education, and other specialized services. If you actually cared about your students, you wouldn't be closing their schools during one of the most vulnerable times in our recent history. Get your priorities straight.
We should not be discussing school closures and consolidations, especially during another COVID surge. I strongly oppose any school closures or consolidations, and any racist efforts to close majority Black schools.
I am strongly against yet another school closure that would detrimentally impact marginalized students, their families and the community at large. Just like the rest of students across the district, Prescott students deserve to continue learning at the school they call home. To deny them that opportunity would be an act of injustice.
I am an OUSD Educator and closing schools at the end of this pandemic year, after you voted just a few months ago not to do so due to the ongoing trauma of the pandemic, is cruel and unnecessary. Follow your own recently adopted policies and prioritize the well-being of students, families and staff as they continue to suffer a third year of trauma and uncertainty.
You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
I think the timing on this is insane! we are going though global pandemic and people have the time and energy to be thinking about shutting down more schools? shame on you for having poor timing! and shame on you again for not putting this enegery into how to make our schools safer during this very challenging time.
As an Oakland educator, I stongly oppose the closure of any schools. Consolidating and closing schools will only harm students and teachers. We deserve better. Closing schools at the end of this pandemic year, after you voted just a few months ago not to do so due to the ongoing trauma of the pandemic, is cruel and unnecessary. Follow your own recently adopted policies and prioritize the well-being of students, families and staff as they continue to suffer a third year of trauma and uncertainty.
You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
School closures - I understand that the topic of school closures is on the block again. Please consider keeping all schools open during this time of worrisome physical illness and exposure to the novel coronavirus. School closures negatively impact all students but more heavily negatively impact BIPOC students and especially BIPOC students who receive special education. The quality of education is diminished when schools are closed or combined. You lose the sense of community that exists with neighborhood schools. Do what's right for all students.
I strongly oppose school consolidation and closure!
As a student in a small school like MetWest, me and my family strongly oppose the district closing down schools and consolidating them. We are currently still in a pandemic and closing down closing would just be thoughtless. The students at small schools all have different lives and by closing down schools it would affect students and their families and completely change their way of learning. A decision like this should not be made. The students are the ones that would be affected by this and the people on the board would not the ones experiencing the unexpected change. I believe that small schools are extremely beneficial to students because it gives teachers the opportunity to help students more and it makes their relationship stronger. Kids with more special needs have more opportunity and they can successfully learn and succeed in a smaller school. Small schools, in my opinion, help students better which is overall what everyone wants for students.
My name is Adrian Grays, one of many Core Leaders of the Reparations for Black Students Campaign.You have already identified the cuts you claim equaled the cost savings of a cohort 3, and more. Claiming you must also actually close schools to qualify for the AB 1840 money just demonstrates that this is about closing Black and Brown schools and not about saving money.
I strongly oppose the district closing down schools that support powerful learning and treasured community building.
Small schools provide unparalleled learning experiences for students.
This is not the time to be closing schools and disrupting the powerful learning experiences for so many youth who are most marginalized.
Despite your best efforts to pretend that closing schools saves money, there is no evidence that it has happened in the 20 plus years of opening and closing schools in OUSD. What it has done is harm Black and Brown students. Since 2004, OUSD has closed or consolidated 23 schools, and 57% of impacted students were Black. Just 3% were white. Think about that. This is anti-Black racism perpetuated and repeated over and over again. You have made a commitment to Black students and families to repair the harm of your policies, and at the first opportunity you have abandoned that commitment - "notwithstanding" your promise to stop the white supremacist processes you have repeated over the years. The maj of schools with less than 400 students are predominantly Black. 4 of them are predominantly white. Will those schools be put forward in order to keep your commitment to Black students, to equity and racial justice? What is your "do different" OUSD to ensure that you don't repeat the harm?
Closing schools is not what OUSD should be deciding to do. OUSD should be making better decisions.
This plan seems thoughtless. Closing schools in the midst of this pandemic will cause unneeded division and chaos within our communities.
THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO CLOSE SCHOOLS! We're still in a pandemic, in an Omicron surge, that's affecting the health and staffing of all our schools. This is no time to further disrupt and traumatize students, families, communities, and staff. The community cannot fully engage in the process when the pandemic restricts full access, including when meetings are virtual and often are webinars (making the public silent and invisible).
Thoughtlessly closing schools without community planning or input is going to create unnecessary chaos and division in our district. Rushing into this “plan” will result in more students and teachers leaving the district. I want to see the district meaningfully collaborate with families and school leaders to figure out the least harmful way to move forward.
The fact that a school closure is being discussed at the peak of yet another COVID-19 surge is sadly not surprising given the priorities of this board. What needs to be discussed now is how OUSD is keeping our students, schools, and communities safe as this pandemic continues to impact Oakland and beyond. Vote "no" on this resolution that will only continue to create hard for students and families.
As an Oakland teacher, I would just say this is such a chaotic time already. Surely we don’t need to add this kind of instability for our kids and families.
As an Oakland educator, I am strongly opposed to consolidating schools. This is the third school year disrupted by the pandemic and we need to be working towards stability and consistency for our students; schools closing would be devastating for our students and communities most impacted by the pandemic.