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 with the Reparations for Black Students campaign against school closures. Don't harm Black students and their families like this; find a different way to balance the budget.
I am one of many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students Resolution and am opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our Black students. This board has failed to engage the community in how tonight's decision will impact our community nor has the board conducted a 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.
This disenfranchisement will severely HARM our students and families if allowed to continue and will only result in more compounded issues in the future that require even more expensive resolutions. Prioritize the wellness of the most needy: our Black, brown and already disenfranchised babies and families.
Pour into our schools do NOT SHUT THEM DOWN!!
I deeply oppose this measure and stand with Reparations for Black Students Campaign. This decision is seeped in white supremacy and every Black student has the right to feel safe in community and have the support to thrive and receive a stellar education. This is not a community-first decision. I vehemently urge you to not target majority Black schools for closure - there is no excuse for a decision like this.
During unprecedented national times of crisis, what we need more than anything, are radically creative solutions to problems. The problem is money; how might we increase funding streams? Councilmembers Fife, Kaplan, Bas and Tao have a resolution to erase the unfair and imposed debt OUSD holds. What other creative solutions might we find?
The haste is harmful. Please vote no and let us all, as a community, come together to find solutions that are not racist, short-sighted, and damaging to thousands of children and families in a global pandemic.
I have been a teacher in Oakland, and am active in Oakland's faith community. You propose closing a school right next to my church. I live in North Oakland/Rockridge. I support the Reparations for Black Students Campaign, and am deeply disturbed by how this proposal harms Black students at a time when Oakland–at–large, led by powerful Black student and family organizing, has called for and committed to repair historical and current day disinvestment and structural racism placed firmly in the way of Black students, educators, and families. This hurts us all, and is a wound that Oakland's policies must heal. I strongly urge you to find the pathway toward providing the long overdue resources needed to thrive. Your action is particularly cold and egregious in this time when educators, students, and families have been called on to make herculean commitments to find ways to continue to teach and learn together, and are deeply exhausted and underpaid. Vote no on this resolution.
I oppose the hasty, short-sided, and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis.
I urge the Board to pause in order to accurately complete an Equity Impact Analysis and make adjustments based on those findings. Also, take the proper time to engage the impacted students and communities in the planning process to ensure needs will be met. Finally, it is not clear that OUSD has adequately considered alternatives to closures. Nationwide studies have shown school closures do not save money nor do they improve outcomes for impacted students.
Please pause these inequitable and negligent closures that lack a proper timeline.
I am a parent of two children who go to Redwood Heights Elementary and I strongly oppose the school closure measure. It is rushed, racist, and doesn’t saving a meaningful amount for the budget.
I live 2 blocks from Horace Mann, which is scheduled for closure in the second round. I have wished from the day my kids were born that HMcould have been their school, but the historic and systemic under-resourcing of OUSD schools in neighborhoods like mine make it an impossible option. There is no aftercare, no enrichment, no PTA support. The school should not be shuttered! It should be lifted up, give it what it needs to attract neighborhood kids who can walk to school. Every school on the list has similar stories.
Please do not use pandemic enrollment numbers to make decisions about schools! And your consultant needs to take a hike - why were SF, Alameda, and Emeryville left off the list of comparable school districts?
Do not go down in history as the most racist board in memory.
I am an OUSD teacher and parent and I oppose this rushed and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. I know first hand the problems and dysfunctions of OUSD. This school closure plan and process is an unacceptable way to solve the problems of OUSD. It is being presented as an either / or situation which perpetuates racism and white supremacy culture. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis.
As a white parent and teacher at a "hills" school, I wonder why is there no plan C, D, or E that puts a large portion of the burden to stabilize our district’s finances on schools that serve predominantly white upper and middle class families?
Please pause these inequitable and negligent closures that lack a proper timeline and community input.
We oppose the hasty, short-sided, and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis mandated by the reparations resolution passed last year. It is not clear that OUSD has adequately considered alternatives to closures. Nationwide studies have shown school closures do not save money nor do they improve outcomes for impacted students. This plan will hurt our most vulnerable families who are feeling the impacts of the pandemic the most.
I stand with the Reparations for Black Students campaign against school closures. Don't harm Black students and their families like this; find a different way to balance the budget.
I am one of many supporters of the Reparations for Black Students Resolution and am opposed to OUSD’s attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our Black students. This board has failed to engage the community in how tonight's decision will impact our community nor has the board conducted a 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.
This disenfranchisement will severely HARM our students and families if allowed to continue and will only result in more compounded issues in the future that require even more expensive resolutions. Prioritize the wellness of the most needy: our Black, brown and already disenfranchised babies and families.
Pour into our schools do NOT SHUT THEM DOWN!!
No on School closure. Our students deserve to keep their schools for the education.
I support the Reparations for Black Students Campaign, and am deeply disturbed by how this proposal harms Black students.
I stand with the Reparations for Black Students campaign and I hope you will too. Please listen to the families at tonight's meeting.
I deeply oppose this measure and stand with Reparations for Black Students Campaign. This decision is seeped in white supremacy and every Black student has the right to feel safe in community and have the support to thrive and receive a stellar education. This is not a community-first decision. I vehemently urge you to not target majority Black schools for closure - there is no excuse for a decision like this.
Do the Right thing you all. I will continue my hunger strike and support you through the external pressures that i know you are facing.
Please vote no on closures and consolidations.
During unprecedented national times of crisis, what we need more than anything, are radically creative solutions to problems. The problem is money; how might we increase funding streams? Councilmembers Fife, Kaplan, Bas and Tao have a resolution to erase the unfair and imposed debt OUSD holds. What other creative solutions might we find?
The haste is harmful. Please vote no and let us all, as a community, come together to find solutions that are not racist, short-sighted, and damaging to thousands of children and families in a global pandemic.
I have been a teacher in Oakland, and am active in Oakland's faith community. You propose closing a school right next to my church. I live in North Oakland/Rockridge. I support the Reparations for Black Students Campaign, and am deeply disturbed by how this proposal harms Black students at a time when Oakland–at–large, led by powerful Black student and family organizing, has called for and committed to repair historical and current day disinvestment and structural racism placed firmly in the way of Black students, educators, and families. This hurts us all, and is a wound that Oakland's policies must heal. I strongly urge you to find the pathway toward providing the long overdue resources needed to thrive. Your action is particularly cold and egregious in this time when educators, students, and families have been called on to make herculean commitments to find ways to continue to teach and learn together, and are deeply exhausted and underpaid. Vote no on this resolution.
Please do not make life harder for black and brown communities
I oppose the hasty, short-sided, and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis.
I urge the Board to pause in order to accurately complete an Equity Impact Analysis and make adjustments based on those findings. Also, take the proper time to engage the impacted students and communities in the planning process to ensure needs will be met. Finally, it is not clear that OUSD has adequately considered alternatives to closures. Nationwide studies have shown school closures do not save money nor do they improve outcomes for impacted students.
Please pause these inequitable and negligent closures that lack a proper timeline.
I oppose closing these schools
I am a parent of two children who go to Redwood Heights Elementary and I strongly oppose the school closure measure. It is rushed, racist, and doesn’t saving a meaningful amount for the budget.
I live 2 blocks from Horace Mann, which is scheduled for closure in the second round. I have wished from the day my kids were born that HMcould have been their school, but the historic and systemic under-resourcing of OUSD schools in neighborhoods like mine make it an impossible option. There is no aftercare, no enrichment, no PTA support. The school should not be shuttered! It should be lifted up, give it what it needs to attract neighborhood kids who can walk to school. Every school on the list has similar stories.
Please do not use pandemic enrollment numbers to make decisions about schools! And your consultant needs to take a hike - why were SF, Alameda, and Emeryville left off the list of comparable school districts?
Do not go down in history as the most racist board in memory.
I oppose the choice to close these schools
I am an OUSD teacher and parent and I oppose this rushed and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. I know first hand the problems and dysfunctions of OUSD. This school closure plan and process is an unacceptable way to solve the problems of OUSD. It is being presented as an either / or situation which perpetuates racism and white supremacy culture. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis.
As a white parent and teacher at a "hills" school, I wonder why is there no plan C, D, or E that puts a large portion of the burden to stabilize our district’s finances on schools that serve predominantly white upper and middle class families?
Please pause these inequitable and negligent closures that lack a proper timeline and community input.
Strongly oppose, these schools are crucial resources for youth in Oakland
Oppose
I oppose closing these schools!
I oppose closing these schools!
We oppose the hasty, short-sided, and inequitable proposal to close and/or merge so many schools so quickly. The list disproportionately impacts low-income students of color and students with special needs, includes an unrealistic timeline for community engagement and proper planning, and negligently lacks an Equity Impact Analysis mandated by the reparations resolution passed last year. It is not clear that OUSD has adequately considered alternatives to closures. Nationwide studies have shown school closures do not save money nor do they improve outcomes for impacted students. This plan will hurt our most vulnerable families who are feeling the impacts of the pandemic the most.