22-0243 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 2122-0030 - School Consolidations for Fiscal Years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
· Presentation by the Superintendent of Schools of recommendations for School Consolidations for Fiscal Years 2022-23 and 2023-24
· Public Comments on proposed School Consolidations
· Discussion of the Board by and between Members and/or the Superintendent of Schools and/or designee(s)
· Action by Board on Resolution No. 2122-0030
I stand to keep OUS open ! Our kids deserve a better future and a bomb education! It’s not fair to our children to have their school shut down which is taking away their education and their friends, closing these schools is taking away from their childhood as well just like us they deserve to look back or have something that remind them of when they where in school I still have memories! So please keep the Schools open for us for our children!
I strongly oppose OUSD's proposal to close or merge the schools. All students should have access to education and protection of our public schools, especially ones that serve the whole community rather than just affluent students, is more important than ever.
As a university professor specializing in literacy, and one who teaches and creates curriculum and policy for Bay Area students in their first year writing classes at SF State, I strongly oppose the continued closing of majority Black schools to solve budgetary issues. This board has failed to engage the community, nor has it conducted the necessary equity impact analysis. Educators and families know all too well that school closures in majority BIPOC neighborhoods amplify the already outsized education debt we have saddled our BIPOC students with. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis - OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Indeed, closing schools that are already the least resources ensures higher fiscal costs elsewhere and significant statewide fiscal impacts as we struggle to create equitable and just educational experiences for these students to succeed under the worst circumstances.
Hi, I strongly oppose OUSD’s closure of the schools. I have lived here since I was 14 and am struggling to raise a child in Oakland. I have a partner that works at Oakland High. School closures will make Oakland a less desirable place to raise a family. It will cause a migration of affluent students to charter and private schools. Please reconsider and listen to the city council members that have highlighted alternatives. The past school closures have not led to balanced budgets and will not do so this time.
Prescott elementary is an important part of my neighborhood and community. We should not punish the community for issues of funding especially when said funding is tied to absences in the midst of a pandemic, or any other reason when the state has the surpluses that it does. We cannot fail to bet on ourselves and the future, we have not shaken every tree. To close these resources and replace them with privatized systems would be a failure in almost all respects.
These school closures are blatantly racist and classist. Why are we closing flatland schools? What you call underenrollment is what rich elite people demand for class sizes for their students. Some students need smaller classes to learn and smaller school communities. As a resident of district 7 I will vote against, campaign against, and donate against any school board member who votes to close flatland schools. As a teacher at Skyline, what will become of my students who live in Deep East Oakland who need a continuation school nearby if Ruddsdale closes? The West Lake campus is too far away for them. This plan to close small local continuation schools will directly harm our graduation rate and place undeserved strain and stress on our most vulnerable high school students who need a continuation school option in their part of Oakland. Why are we targeting continuation schools this way? Shame on you. You should feel deep guilt in your soul. This will be your legacy.
I am a parent of an Oakland High student and am one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution. I am OPPOSED to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget through rushed and racist school closures. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis -- those of us who have been around for a while know that OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Please listen to City Council members Carroll Fife, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rebecca Kaplan, and Sheng Thao, as they have proposed alternative ways to repair our economic situation WITHOUT doing further damage to our children and most impacted communities.
My name is Cat Kung; I am a resident of District 2 and work in District 5. I'm one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution and I am very opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget at the expense of our Black students. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis, and plenty of empty real estate that can serve as OUSD office space. Students shouldn't have to travel outside of their neighborhoods to receive education, and closing schools serving primarily Black and Brown communities shows how out of touch and divested OUSD is from serving anyone who isn't white or wealthy. OUSD has the responsibility to pay Reparations to Black students now, and that includes keeping their schools open, well-resourced, and funded. It seems more reasonable to balance the budget out of the highest paid salaries of OUSD and its Board instead.
Vote no! Children need access to education. School closures and consolidations harm students, families, the community. Especially after the last few years, when structural barriers further fueled by the pandemic have put so much stress on the access to education and left many students, teachers, families struggling. Open and available education in your neighborhood is a right to all - VOTE NO!!!!
I am writing to strongly oppose the incredibly racist and harmful closures that are already traumatizing the affected children. Schools closures have NEVER saved any appreciable money and instead lead to a downward spiral of our educational system. If you gave up your obscenely overpriced district HQ you could save 3/4 of the projected savings from the closures yet you tell us you have no choice? Go back to the drawing board and throw out the horrific proposal in front of you tonight!
I STRONGLY OPPOSE the proposal to close schools in Oakland. Our young people need stability, safe access to schools in their neighborhood during a horrible period in history. If you want to save money, give yourself a teachers salary, don't take schools away from our Black and Brown students. This is literally your ONLY JOB is to TAKE CARE OF THESE KIDS! Be on the right side of history. Closing these schools places you as the puppet masters of the RACIST SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION that black and brown youth face, that is destroying lives. Be brave. Do the most basic, decent thing. Stand up for our bright, beautiful youth that will take care of you some day. What if this was your child?
My name is Melisa Rodriguez, I’m in 10th grade, I attend Fremont High school. I’m also a youth organizer with Oakland Kids First. I’m opposing school closures and consolidation because if schools go into closing then there will be families who are already struggling, being placed with more additional stress. This is wrong because students being forced to move somewhere else will only cause them more academic struggle. Along with that closing schools song fully help with budget since the students that get kicked out end up going to other districts. While this happens the district can also lose more money rather then save due to this. Black students should be set up for success by the district providing or investing in better recourses like tutoring, counseling, more staff to help, upgraded classrooms so students feel like they’re in a comfortable environment to learn. I demand that OUSD vote NO on school closures and consolidations. Do the right thing and listen to the community.
I am emphatically opposed to these proposed school closures. This is a disgrace. OUSD's previous school closures did not produce a satisfactory budget solution either. Doing it again, especially after students, teachers and their communities have spent the last two years in unimaginably difficult circumstances, is breathtakingly cruel. The children and families of Oakland deserve better than this. This vote is a chance for the school board to stand up for Black and POC students, their teachers and their communities and do the right thing by voting NO!
Hello, my name is Michael-David Sasson and I am a resident of District 4. I am one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution and I am opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget on the back of our Black students. This board has failed to engage the community in tonight’s decision and conduct the necessary equity impact analysis. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis and OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Hands off our schools!
All of these school closures and community upheaval in order to save $4-15 million dollars out of a budget of $705 million? That’s 0.5%, or less than 1% of our annual budget. Why not close the charter schools that have not proven to be any better than public schools. What a disappointment! This rushed vote is so suspicious, yet typical for OUSD. Many of us teachers who have been in Oakland for 35 years have seen this mess and corruption far too long to trust any effort to close any school. Can you imagine if you close these schools all the increased traffic on the Oakland roadways to transport these children to a nearby school if there even is one that has availability? This is an attempt to steal public school properties from the children of Oakland and hand it over to greedy corporations who couldn’t care less about the students in Oakland!
I stand to keep OUS open ! Our kids deserve a better future and a bomb education! It’s not fair to our children to have their school shut down which is taking away their education and their friends, closing these schools is taking away from their childhood as well just like us they deserve to look back or have something that remind them of when they where in school I still have memories! So please keep the Schools open for us for our children!
I strongly oppose OUSD's proposal to close or merge the schools. All students should have access to education and protection of our public schools, especially ones that serve the whole community rather than just affluent students, is more important than ever.
As a university professor specializing in literacy, and one who teaches and creates curriculum and policy for Bay Area students in their first year writing classes at SF State, I strongly oppose the continued closing of majority Black schools to solve budgetary issues. This board has failed to engage the community, nor has it conducted the necessary equity impact analysis. Educators and families know all too well that school closures in majority BIPOC neighborhoods amplify the already outsized education debt we have saddled our BIPOC students with. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis - OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Indeed, closing schools that are already the least resources ensures higher fiscal costs elsewhere and significant statewide fiscal impacts as we struggle to create equitable and just educational experiences for these students to succeed under the worst circumstances.
I stand with the Oakland community, and I strongly oppose school closures.
Hi, I strongly oppose OUSD’s closure of the schools. I have lived here since I was 14 and am struggling to raise a child in Oakland. I have a partner that works at Oakland High. School closures will make Oakland a less desirable place to raise a family. It will cause a migration of affluent students to charter and private schools. Please reconsider and listen to the city council members that have highlighted alternatives. The past school closures have not led to balanced budgets and will not do so this time.
Prescott elementary is an important part of my neighborhood and community. We should not punish the community for issues of funding especially when said funding is tied to absences in the midst of a pandemic, or any other reason when the state has the surpluses that it does. We cannot fail to bet on ourselves and the future, we have not shaken every tree. To close these resources and replace them with privatized systems would be a failure in almost all respects.
I am a resident of District 2, standing with students, educators and parents, and I STRONGLY OPPOSE the closing and consolidation of Oakland schools.
These school closures are blatantly racist and classist. Why are we closing flatland schools? What you call underenrollment is what rich elite people demand for class sizes for their students. Some students need smaller classes to learn and smaller school communities. As a resident of district 7 I will vote against, campaign against, and donate against any school board member who votes to close flatland schools. As a teacher at Skyline, what will become of my students who live in Deep East Oakland who need a continuation school nearby if Ruddsdale closes? The West Lake campus is too far away for them. This plan to close small local continuation schools will directly harm our graduation rate and place undeserved strain and stress on our most vulnerable high school students who need a continuation school option in their part of Oakland. Why are we targeting continuation schools this way? Shame on you. You should feel deep guilt in your soul. This will be your legacy.
I am a parent of an Oakland High student and am one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution. I am OPPOSED to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget through rushed and racist school closures. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis -- those of us who have been around for a while know that OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Please listen to City Council members Carroll Fife, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rebecca Kaplan, and Sheng Thao, as they have proposed alternative ways to repair our economic situation WITHOUT doing further damage to our children and most impacted communities.
My name is Cat Kung; I am a resident of District 2 and work in District 5. I'm one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution and I am very opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget at the expense of our Black students. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis, and plenty of empty real estate that can serve as OUSD office space. Students shouldn't have to travel outside of their neighborhoods to receive education, and closing schools serving primarily Black and Brown communities shows how out of touch and divested OUSD is from serving anyone who isn't white or wealthy. OUSD has the responsibility to pay Reparations to Black students now, and that includes keeping their schools open, well-resourced, and funded. It seems more reasonable to balance the budget out of the highest paid salaries of OUSD and its Board instead.
Vote no! Children need access to education. School closures and consolidations harm students, families, the community. Especially after the last few years, when structural barriers further fueled by the pandemic have put so much stress on the access to education and left many students, teachers, families struggling. Open and available education in your neighborhood is a right to all - VOTE NO!!!!
I’m opposed to the closing and consolidation of schools.
I am writing to strongly oppose the incredibly racist and harmful closures that are already traumatizing the affected children. Schools closures have NEVER saved any appreciable money and instead lead to a downward spiral of our educational system. If you gave up your obscenely overpriced district HQ you could save 3/4 of the projected savings from the closures yet you tell us you have no choice? Go back to the drawing board and throw out the horrific proposal in front of you tonight!
I STRONGLY OPPOSE the proposal to close schools in Oakland. Our young people need stability, safe access to schools in their neighborhood during a horrible period in history. If you want to save money, give yourself a teachers salary, don't take schools away from our Black and Brown students. This is literally your ONLY JOB is to TAKE CARE OF THESE KIDS! Be on the right side of history. Closing these schools places you as the puppet masters of the RACIST SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION that black and brown youth face, that is destroying lives. Be brave. Do the most basic, decent thing. Stand up for our bright, beautiful youth that will take care of you some day. What if this was your child?
My name is Melisa Rodriguez, I’m in 10th grade, I attend Fremont High school. I’m also a youth organizer with Oakland Kids First. I’m opposing school closures and consolidation because if schools go into closing then there will be families who are already struggling, being placed with more additional stress. This is wrong because students being forced to move somewhere else will only cause them more academic struggle. Along with that closing schools song fully help with budget since the students that get kicked out end up going to other districts. While this happens the district can also lose more money rather then save due to this. Black students should be set up for success by the district providing or investing in better recourses like tutoring, counseling, more staff to help, upgraded classrooms so students feel like they’re in a comfortable environment to learn. I demand that OUSD vote NO on school closures and consolidations. Do the right thing and listen to the community.
I stand with the Oakland community and oppose school closures.
I am emphatically opposed to these proposed school closures. This is a disgrace. OUSD's previous school closures did not produce a satisfactory budget solution either. Doing it again, especially after students, teachers and their communities have spent the last two years in unimaginably difficult circumstances, is breathtakingly cruel. The children and families of Oakland deserve better than this. This vote is a chance for the school board to stand up for Black and POC students, their teachers and their communities and do the right thing by voting NO!
Are you reading these comments? There are zero people supporting this agenda item! Time to recall the Board!
Hello, my name is Michael-David Sasson and I am a resident of District 4. I am one of the many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students resolution and I am opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget on the back of our Black students. This board has failed to engage the community in tonight’s decision and conduct the necessary equity impact analysis. There are other ways to handle a budget crisis and OUSD’s own history of school closures is a clear indicator that closing schools will not produce the desired district savings. Hands off our schools!
All of these school closures and community upheaval in order to save $4-15 million dollars out of a budget of $705 million? That’s 0.5%, or less than 1% of our annual budget. Why not close the charter schools that have not proven to be any better than public schools. What a disappointment! This rushed vote is so suspicious, yet typical for OUSD. Many of us teachers who have been in Oakland for 35 years have seen this mess and corruption far too long to trust any effort to close any school. Can you imagine if you close these schools all the increased traffic on the Oakland roadways to transport these children to a nearby school if there even is one that has availability? This is an attempt to steal public school properties from the children of Oakland and hand it over to greedy corporations who couldn’t care less about the students in Oakland!