Meeting Time: March 23, 2022 at 4:00pm PDT
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Agenda Item

T.-4 22-0571 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 2122-0202 - Finding That East Bay Innovation Academy (EBIA), a Charter School, Cannot Be Accommodated At A Single Site and Written Statement Of Reasoning; Adopting Issuance of Proposition 39 Facilities Offers and Directing Staff to Issue Written Final Offers in Compliance with Proposition 39.

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    Marie Fox over 2 years ago

    I join so many in the Montera community in asking you to vote no on this proposal. This proposed expansion into Montera would negatively impact our community. The charter school should absolutely not be given access to the space at Montera - which from what I understand is not actually “underutilized “. Having high school students and more people in general on campus will negatively effect the entire community.

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    christopher owens over 2 years ago

    There is no way that this should even be a considered. I strongly oppose high school students on middle school campuses.
    My daughter is 12 years old, I don't think the influence of 16yr olds should be present, this horrifies me.

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    Emily Cronbach over 2 years ago

    I oppose the idea of adding high school students to a middle school.
    And I specifically challenge the suggestion that the classrooms devoted to special education students are underutilized.
    Even during periods when there is not a formal class taking place, the inclusion classrooms serve as a refuge where kids can come if they need a chance to reset.
    Having this safe space is hugely beneficial and losing would cause additional disruption.
    Please vote no.

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    Grace Telcs over 2 years ago

    I am strongly opposed to EBIA taking over space in district schools, particularly at Montera Middle School. Several rooms earmarked for takeover are classroom currently used by Montera’s special education program. Both of my children are autistic, with OUSD IEPs, and my daughter is starting 6th grade in Montera’s Inclusion program in August. These classrooms are currently being well used and are not sitting empty or being underutilized!! If Montera special education students and teachers lose this space, it will be to the detriment of students like my daughter who require this space for their special education needs and to enhance their learning and to access their education. Please do not allow EBIA to take over space at Montera being well used for special education instruction!

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    Carrie Bruin over 2 years ago

    Montera Middle school's Inclusion classrooms are an invaluable resource that has improved the lives of students with special needs for several decades. Classrooms provide intensive, small group interventions, sensory areas to decompress, life skill instruction and a safe place for students. Social and study skill classes, before/after school support, lunch groups, assessments and individualized instruction, IEP meetings add to its heavy usage and need. These are crucial spaces for students who often feel overwhelmed and overstimulated and who would otherwise be melting down in the general ed classrooms. We are beyond the days when special education classrooms were placed in gyms, portables in the back of the school, or closet spaces and will stand up for the rights of our students. During a global pandemic, it is especially imperative to maintain these safe spaces for medically fragile students and staff.
    Do not take away Montera's Full Inclusion Classrooms and Speech room.

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    Marcie Frank over 2 years ago

    I strongly oppose adding High School students to the Montera school grounds if it resulted in space being taken away from special needs students. As the parent of a child in the ASIP program, dedicated space is vital to his ability to effectively participate in a traditional school environment. I find it offensive that OUSD would consider this room to be “underutilized” when it serves such a critical role in the day-to-day of so many children. This is the only space where they can safely spend free time, develop social skills, and escape for a sensory break throughout the day. This benefits all students and faculty as it helps to minimize disruption in other settings. Would you consider a parking lot with handicap spaces to be “underutilized”? The purpose this space serves is much greater than the numbers imply.

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    S Kwong over 2 years ago

    I am strongly opposed to sacrificing special education classrooms in order to accommodate high school students on a middle school campus. Aside from the safety issues of mixing students as young as 10 with students as old as 19, it is unfair to take away the safe spaces that inclusion and other special ed students need and deserve. None of the "underutilized" classrooms at Montera are ever underutilized. The teachers that serve the special education population already suffer from lack of resources and support. Taking away their classrooms will only add to the impossible task they already have.

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    Yosdelhi Ortiz over 2 years ago

    I strongly oppose to this unconscious proposition not respecting the space of our students, especially students with special needs who on an a daily bases struggle every day and remove classrooms and bring older students is totally unacceptable we already have too many behavior problems this will make it even worse please respect their school.

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    Teresa Friedheim over 2 years ago

    Students with special needs at Montera are able to get the much needed support they require through special "homerooms" which accommodate their diverse special needs in ways that regular general education classrooms don't. My son heavily relies on this support. He and other special needs kids would not be successful without it. We will consider dropping him from OUSD if his needs cannot be met at Montera through the use of Ms. BRUINS homeroom classroom. Her care and the way she has set up this classroom is the best part of Montera, by far. We value her and this space tremendously!

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    Michele Douglass over 2 years ago

    Inclusion students need a space of their own. I am strongly against having high school students on a middle school campus

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    Alicia Connelly over 2 years ago

    I oppose adding a high school to a middle school campus. My child is in the inclusion program and at least one of the classrooms he uses and is available for him and other students as a safe space all day long is one of the classrooms that is considered 'underutilized.' This school is big and already has a such bullying problem - this space is critical for them to be able to feel comfortable and grow connections.

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    Tiffany VanBuren over 2 years ago

    I am strongly opposed to this proposal. It’s preposterous to claim special ed classrooms are “underutilized”; my student relies on access to P-9 throughout the school day, as do many of his peers. Combing classrooms would create disruption that could result in regression. Whose best interest is this proposal intended to serve? Definitely not the current students and staff of Montera Middle School.

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    Raquel Ramos over 2 years ago

    Creo que el tamaño de la comunidad estudiantil de Montera es grande actualmente y compartiendo los espacios, y con esos tiempos tan difíciles, no me parece conveniente, ni adecuado.

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    Ronita Hamlet over 2 years ago

    I oppose having a high school on the same grounds as a middle school. I am a parent of two Montera students and I wouldn’t be comfortable with high school students on the campus. The admin at Montera are doing a good job with the system they have in place. Our kids are used to this system, I don’t want my child learning environment disrupted again (covid has done that enough). Montera doesn’t have any open space to merge with another school. Every classroom at Montera is being utilized. There’s no way to even keep our students separated from the high school students. With the elementary school and Montera being next door, we already cause enough traffic in the area and adding a high school would just make things worse. Merge EBIA with another charter high school or find the school it’s own building.

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    ViolentChildAttackerAndStalkerEmployedByOUSD DonnieBarcliftFieldSupervisorNutritionServices over 2 years ago

    Mandated reporters, PTA, Board,
    This man is now facing prison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLX36ReAes
    Why did the Ombudsperson Mr Valenzuela and the Board think that Mr Barclift is different from this man or the other school workers terminated for violently attacking children? Even if OUSD only has a complaint of a past incident and his malicious intent to seek employment at a school district https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/child-predator-employed-in-the-oakland-unified what they did have physical proof of was two videos he uploaded to his public youtube channel of a man attacking another man with a 2x4 lumber beam the exact same weapon he used to beat the two kids with. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKWUDTgoGJU One was affected so traumatically they died from a drug overdose twenty years later in 2009 the same year Mr Barclift was hired by OUSD. Why did the Ombudsperson and Board ignore Mr Barclift's youtube videos?

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    Shilpa Kumbhani over 2 years ago

    Please vote NO. Having high school students at Montera is a terrible idea for middle school aged kids and their social emotional learning, safety, and comfort. Discipline and order are already big hurdles owing to large population size at Montera and adding much older kids to the mix only compounds these. The charter school needs to find its own solution. Montera needs funds and space to enrich its own programs for its own students. OUSD needs to do better than this. Mixing high school students into a middle school campus is a horrendous proposal.

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    AARON QUINN over 2 years ago

    As a parent of a girl at montera I believe having High School Boys on the same campus is wrong and possibly unsafe. The age range would be 10/11 to 18/19 years old. This is developmentally inappropriate for kids and possibly unsafe for young girls.

    In addition the campus at Montera is already full. There are already portables used a permit classrooms.

    What about parking for the high schoolers? The lot is already full and parking in the neighborhood is not realistic. Pick up and drop of is already chaotic and add more traffic is not a great idea

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    Judy Smith over 2 years ago

    I am very against this measure. It is totally inappropriate to mix a high school and a middle school. Montera needs resources, not high school students.

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    Bridget Davies over 2 years ago

    I strongly oppose this measure. There is no way a high school should be collocated with a middle school. This is a terrible idea for the kids of our city.

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    Montera Mom over 2 years ago

    Please vote no. Montera already has a problem with interpersonal violence that is not being handled effectively and with incidents left unaddressed. There is little community building or restorative practices in response to tough social issues. This will be compounded by the presence of older teenagers on the same campus as children. There is no capacity at Montera to handle suddenly integrating a high school Into the campus as well. TERRIBLE IDEA. No please noooooo.