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
Dear Board of Education,
Please stop closing down schools. There are no benefits to anyone besides yourselves on closing down these schools. When you shut down these schools, you are forcing students and parents to locate someplace else in order to continue an education. When you shut down these schools, Most of which POC students attend, you're not giving them much of a choice of where they can go or how they can deal with the situation in such a short amount of time. Parents with cars are forced to adapt and change up their schedules to be able to drop off/ pick up their kids. Parents that don't/can't drive don't have a car, and work are forced to adapt and change up their schedules to find ways to get their child to school as well as getting themselves to work. Times are already hard on Parents and Students with Covid Rates increasing and trying to stay safe, why make it harder by shutting down these schools that Parents have had no issues with getting their kids to and from?
I am a resident of District 1 and strongly oppose the proposed school closures. This action would be deeply inequitable with the most adverse outcomes for Black and brown students and communities. Please listen to the many community members speaking in opposition to the closure and come up with an alternative proposal.
I am an Oakland resident, small business owner, nonprofit staff, and former youth development worker. I support Black and other POC working class Oakland youth, teachers, and families, and I strongly oppose any school closures!
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 tonight's decision will impact 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. Hands off our schools!
As a LIFETIME Oakland resident with significant ties to my community, 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.
This Board's passing the buck. How do we know that? Gary Yee spoke to 100 Hillcrest families on Friday; his recorded admissions demonstrate that he and other Board members shirked their responsibilities and engaged in cursory, incomplete analyses. Yee even stated: "I am embarrassed to say that there has been no equity analysis that I know of to date," and admitted that it should have been done. The Board did not engage in meaningful discussions with education experts or UCSF doctors, all of whom have publicly stated that the added COVID-related traumas further impact the assessment. Instead, Yee invited the community to recall him. This Board's solution--inviting a recall--demonstrates a lack of accountability. It tells us is that these are OUR problems, not theirs. The tragedy is that their failures are thus borne out by the students. Why not engage in meaningful, intelligent, and creative problem-solving before you attempt to fix past mistakes by making new mistakes? Delay the vote.
"Closures & consolidations are drastic & permanent. They disrupt the connection between families, communities and local schools, ... “No full study was made of the impact of past closures, to see how many students stayed in OUSD and how many left, what were the educational impacts for students who stayed, whether OUSD saved money or lost money from the closures after factoring in reduced enrollment, and if it did save money, whether it outweighed the impact to the kids at closed schools and the community around them.”
This accelerated timeline prevents a consideration of the evidence on past school closures ... and it forecloses ... alternatives to the stress and disruption closures will generate during the current and next several academic years ... it privileges ... perspectives of consultants and donors over the needs of Oakland public school families ...
OUSD students, present, future and past, deserve a more transparent, deliberate & democratic process." J.Scott Mercury News 2/22
Studies show closing schools doesn't save $ or improve performance.
https://www.courant.com/education/hc-school-closing-outcomes-20180120-story.html
http://schottfoundation.org/blog/2013/07/09/debunking-myths-school-closures
2004-2016 OUSD closed 18 schools majority Black. 14 schools became Charters 67%. The proposal says 10% of students will leave. Schools to close don't have schools that are close & safe to walk to. 40% of the families don't own cars. In the last 20 yrs. the enrollment decrease in district school's is similar to the increase in charters.
Proposed schools have the highest # of Special Day classes & high # of Black & Brown students.
Proposal says OUSD has too many schools. Alameda, SF & Emeryville have a similar # of schools compared to its # of students.
OUSD spends 526% more on admin. & 325% more on consulting than the avg. public school in CA. OUSD spends 3M renting district offices. It has empty buildings & space in buildings.
Where's the Equity Impact Analysis.
I am writing to urge you to vote against the proposal to close Oakland schools. As someone who has worked in education for almost 20 years, I know how important it is for under-resourced families and neighborhoods to have accessible schools. The students who live in West & East Oakland deserve an education. Closing schools will only enhance the inequities that these children face.
As a special education therapist and teacher for another public school system, 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 an Arabic speaking parent that opposes school closures for the harm it does to students and the community (particularly school closures without community input or engagement).
I am an Arabic speaking parent that opposes school closures for the harm it does to students and the community (particularly school closures without community input or engagement).
Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) stands against school cuts & closures. We are deeply concerned about the schools listed for closure given the majority of the schools on the list are historically Black schools, serving a majority of Black & Brown youth. We are particularly appalled by the proposal to close or make cuts to alt ed schools serving youth who have been impacted by the school to prison pipeline. Through our partnership with CDS, Bunche, Dewey, Street Academy, & Rudsdale, we have reached our most vulnerable youth in OUSD. The school closures would significantly impact the community's ability to provide vital support to students who are most in need. When you close schools w/o engaging the community in alternative strategies, you are making the decision to put our youth & community at risk. Now is the time to effectively strategize to deepen our investment in our Black and Brown youth.We urge you to do right by listening to the voices of our community. Stop the school closures!
I am a student attending Dewey Academy and I strongly oppose the closing and merging of most schools in the district. How about trying to focus on the educational system that is going on in those other schools. Instead of trying to close them down, why not give those schools time to rationalize their thoughts on what is actually wrong. The board has given little to no time for schools to see a difference. OUSD has closed 16 schools since 2004 yet these closures did little to improve the achievement gap of marginalized students. What difference would it make closing more schools down?
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.
As an OUSD educator, I strongly oppose this proposal for school closures and mergers. I hope you’ve heard the unified voice of your constituents this past week and weekend and VOTE NO.
There are at least four major reasons not to vote for closing schools now.
1) While members of the Board have expressed concerns about wanting to increase retention and raise salaries for teachers (excellent goals) they have not shown that closing schools will achieve this end. They must be able to do this before voting to close schools.
2) Despite past promises to engage the community, there has been an incredible lack of district-led
community engagement in these decisions. This is anti-democratic and builds distrust in any decision the Board will make.
3) Despite agreeing in the past to deal with issues of equity in school closures, the Board has refused to look at this.
4) Despite members of the Board saying that they will not allow charters to take over the district - there have been no provisions made to prevent this from happening. Prop 39 will allow charters to ask for unused district property and the Board has almost no power to change this situation.
Vote NO
I decided to come to Dewey because it is closer to my house than other old schools that I was attending and it's a smaller school. Dewey is helping me graduate because there’s not alot of students in this school. The teachers really get to give you a hand and help you out with any problem you need. In other schools I never had an experience like that. That's why I think Dewey academy is so special and unique. My concerns about merging Dewey and the other schools is that I'm not gonna get the help I’m getting at Dewey. Another concern is covid is getting worst. Y'all tryna get us united with more kids, that will be a health risk. I don't see how the district is willing to do that just to save a little money. I hope y’all think about it more! I have a case where the judge and the d.a gave me a low percentage of graduating. I'm trying my best to graduate and Dewey is getting my hopes up to prove the d.a and the judge wrong!! If yall close dewey I won't be able to win my case.
No to closing the schools 🟥 You took a very quick decision and did not give us enough time to accept the shock as we are the Arabs, especially the ones who came from Yemen. They are complete in providing food, drink, safe housing and a safe school, and their dream of schools that meet all their needs and schools close to their homes will be fulfilled so that there is no obstacle to their going. Now you have really shocked us by this unjust decision. They studied for three years and loved their school as their third home, loved their teachers and became one big family. They will face a great burden and difficult hardships in adapting in other schools. Our children will be disappointed by our great and merciful state, Aws Ali’s mother, third grade, from one of the affected schools. manzanita community school.
Students are already struggling to make in person classes. If we consolidate more schools they will be juggling: work, inexcusable commute times, and being a student through a global pandemic. The selling of valuable school properties under the guise of school consolidations while numbers for attendance are at a historic low because of Covid-19 is cruel and intentional as an attack to dismantle the educational rights of our communities. This is wrong, and you know it! Don’t pass this vote!
Dear Board of Education,
Please stop closing down schools. There are no benefits to anyone besides yourselves on closing down these schools. When you shut down these schools, you are forcing students and parents to locate someplace else in order to continue an education. When you shut down these schools, Most of which POC students attend, you're not giving them much of a choice of where they can go or how they can deal with the situation in such a short amount of time. Parents with cars are forced to adapt and change up their schedules to be able to drop off/ pick up their kids. Parents that don't/can't drive don't have a car, and work are forced to adapt and change up their schedules to find ways to get their child to school as well as getting themselves to work. Times are already hard on Parents and Students with Covid Rates increasing and trying to stay safe, why make it harder by shutting down these schools that Parents have had no issues with getting their kids to and from?
I am a resident of District 1 and strongly oppose the proposed school closures. This action would be deeply inequitable with the most adverse outcomes for Black and brown students and communities. Please listen to the many community members speaking in opposition to the closure and come up with an alternative proposal.
I am an Oakland resident, small business owner, nonprofit staff, and former youth development worker. I support Black and other POC working class Oakland youth, teachers, and families, and I strongly oppose any school closures!
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 tonight's decision will impact 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. Hands off our schools!
As a LIFETIME Oakland resident with significant ties to my community, 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.
We do not agree that schools should be closed because the children get sad and the schools are closed so no at the closure of the schools
This Board's passing the buck. How do we know that? Gary Yee spoke to 100 Hillcrest families on Friday; his recorded admissions demonstrate that he and other Board members shirked their responsibilities and engaged in cursory, incomplete analyses. Yee even stated: "I am embarrassed to say that there has been no equity analysis that I know of to date," and admitted that it should have been done. The Board did not engage in meaningful discussions with education experts or UCSF doctors, all of whom have publicly stated that the added COVID-related traumas further impact the assessment. Instead, Yee invited the community to recall him. This Board's solution--inviting a recall--demonstrates a lack of accountability. It tells us is that these are OUR problems, not theirs. The tragedy is that their failures are thus borne out by the students. Why not engage in meaningful, intelligent, and creative problem-solving before you attempt to fix past mistakes by making new mistakes? Delay the vote.
"Closures & consolidations are drastic & permanent. They disrupt the connection between families, communities and local schools, ... “No full study was made of the impact of past closures, to see how many students stayed in OUSD and how many left, what were the educational impacts for students who stayed, whether OUSD saved money or lost money from the closures after factoring in reduced enrollment, and if it did save money, whether it outweighed the impact to the kids at closed schools and the community around them.”
This accelerated timeline prevents a consideration of the evidence on past school closures ... and it forecloses ... alternatives to the stress and disruption closures will generate during the current and next several academic years ... it privileges ... perspectives of consultants and donors over the needs of Oakland public school families ...
OUSD students, present, future and past, deserve a more transparent, deliberate & democratic process." J.Scott Mercury News 2/22
Studies show closing schools doesn't save $ or improve performance.
https://www.courant.com/education/hc-school-closing-outcomes-20180120-story.html
http://schottfoundation.org/blog/2013/07/09/debunking-myths-school-closures
2004-2016 OUSD closed 18 schools majority Black. 14 schools became Charters 67%. The proposal says 10% of students will leave. Schools to close don't have schools that are close & safe to walk to. 40% of the families don't own cars. In the last 20 yrs. the enrollment decrease in district school's is similar to the increase in charters.
Proposed schools have the highest # of Special Day classes & high # of Black & Brown students.
Proposal says OUSD has too many schools. Alameda, SF & Emeryville have a similar # of schools compared to its # of students.
OUSD spends 526% more on admin. & 325% more on consulting than the avg. public school in CA. OUSD spends 3M renting district offices. It has empty buildings & space in buildings.
Where's the Equity Impact Analysis.
I am writing to urge you to vote against the proposal to close Oakland schools. As someone who has worked in education for almost 20 years, I know how important it is for under-resourced families and neighborhoods to have accessible schools. The students who live in West & East Oakland deserve an education. Closing schools will only enhance the inequities that these children face.
As a special education therapist and teacher for another public school system, 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 an Arabic speaking parent that opposes school closures for the harm it does to students and the community (particularly school closures without community input or engagement).
I am an Arabic speaking parent that opposes school closures for the harm it does to students and the community (particularly school closures without community input or engagement).
Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) stands against school cuts & closures. We are deeply concerned about the schools listed for closure given the majority of the schools on the list are historically Black schools, serving a majority of Black & Brown youth. We are particularly appalled by the proposal to close or make cuts to alt ed schools serving youth who have been impacted by the school to prison pipeline. Through our partnership with CDS, Bunche, Dewey, Street Academy, & Rudsdale, we have reached our most vulnerable youth in OUSD. The school closures would significantly impact the community's ability to provide vital support to students who are most in need. When you close schools w/o engaging the community in alternative strategies, you are making the decision to put our youth & community at risk. Now is the time to effectively strategize to deepen our investment in our Black and Brown youth.We urge you to do right by listening to the voices of our community. Stop the school closures!
I am a student attending Dewey Academy and I strongly oppose the closing and merging of most schools in the district. How about trying to focus on the educational system that is going on in those other schools. Instead of trying to close them down, why not give those schools time to rationalize their thoughts on what is actually wrong. The board has given little to no time for schools to see a difference. OUSD has closed 16 schools since 2004 yet these closures did little to improve the achievement gap of marginalized students. What difference would it make closing more schools down?
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.
As an OUSD educator, I strongly oppose this proposal for school closures and mergers. I hope you’ve heard the unified voice of your constituents this past week and weekend and VOTE NO.
There are at least four major reasons not to vote for closing schools now.
1) While members of the Board have expressed concerns about wanting to increase retention and raise salaries for teachers (excellent goals) they have not shown that closing schools will achieve this end. They must be able to do this before voting to close schools.
2) Despite past promises to engage the community, there has been an incredible lack of district-led
community engagement in these decisions. This is anti-democratic and builds distrust in any decision the Board will make.
3) Despite agreeing in the past to deal with issues of equity in school closures, the Board has refused to look at this.
4) Despite members of the Board saying that they will not allow charters to take over the district - there have been no provisions made to prevent this from happening. Prop 39 will allow charters to ask for unused district property and the Board has almost no power to change this situation.
Vote NO
I decided to come to Dewey because it is closer to my house than other old schools that I was attending and it's a smaller school. Dewey is helping me graduate because there’s not alot of students in this school. The teachers really get to give you a hand and help you out with any problem you need. In other schools I never had an experience like that. That's why I think Dewey academy is so special and unique. My concerns about merging Dewey and the other schools is that I'm not gonna get the help I’m getting at Dewey. Another concern is covid is getting worst. Y'all tryna get us united with more kids, that will be a health risk. I don't see how the district is willing to do that just to save a little money. I hope y’all think about it more! I have a case where the judge and the d.a gave me a low percentage of graduating. I'm trying my best to graduate and Dewey is getting my hopes up to prove the d.a and the judge wrong!! If yall close dewey I won't be able to win my case.
No to closing the schools 🟥 You took a very quick decision and did not give us enough time to accept the shock as we are the Arabs, especially the ones who came from Yemen. They are complete in providing food, drink, safe housing and a safe school, and their dream of schools that meet all their needs and schools close to their homes will be fulfilled so that there is no obstacle to their going. Now you have really shocked us by this unjust decision. They studied for three years and loved their school as their third home, loved their teachers and became one big family. They will face a great burden and difficult hardships in adapting in other schools. Our children will be disappointed by our great and merciful state, Aws Ali’s mother, third grade, from one of the affected schools. manzanita community school.
Students are already struggling to make in person classes. If we consolidate more schools they will be juggling: work, inexcusable commute times, and being a student through a global pandemic. The selling of valuable school properties under the guise of school consolidations while numbers for attendance are at a historic low because of Covid-19 is cruel and intentional as an attack to dismantle the educational rights of our communities. This is wrong, and you know it! Don’t pass this vote!