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.
I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS RESOLUTION AND URGE THE BOARD TO VOTE NO. I have a 7th grader at Montera. The addition of high school students will impede in the learning, safety and socialization of Montera middle school students. This is an issue the charter shool needs to solve independently. This is an effort to expand charter schools - NOT help, improve or benefit Montera Middle School. The high school age charter school students should be on a campus with high school peers to create the community they deserve. The Montera Middle School campus is not the place for high school students or to place an overflow of students currently in the charter school system. Logistics with this proposal will also negatively impact the MMS students, staff and the neighboring community. Their isn't enough parking, buses are currently crowded moving thru the parking lot to drop students off and surrounding streets are narrow and already congested with traffic. This proposal is not beneficial to anyone.
I strongly oppose the proposal to add a High School charter (EBIA or others) at Montera Middle School. Introducing high school aged students to this small campus with no real way to separate the daily interaction of these disparate age groups is a recipe for trouble. The proposal promises this charter high school program specialized facilities such as laboratories. Will this take STEAM learning spaces from Montera students? Why should Montera facilities, which are supported, updated, and maintained using Montera PTO funds, be handed over to a charter? Montera's incoming 6th grade enrollment has a wait list. Sounds to me like Montera has no additional space for 2022-23. And if there is - why not open it to more of the Middle School aged children this campus is designed, equipped, and staffed to support? The high school aged charter school students deserve a campus for high school students. And Montera students deserve the safety and focus of a dedicated Middle School environment.
Charter schools are already under fire for leaching off resources that mainstream schools need, literally giving the resources in a physical way from our school to a charter is not going to send a message that you care about mainstream schools adequately. I'm the parent of a student there, and the last thing that school needs is anything taken from it. You should be having meetings on how you can expand Montera's impact, reach and resources, rather than shrinking them.
As a parent of two Montera students & another Toro on the way, I vote no to expanding the campus to accommodate a charter school. Middle school is a transition period for many - the distraction of more students & older students is too much. Logistics & parking alone is already challenging - why add to that? While we are a proud Toro family, I know that this change will lead many to discount Montera. They will make alternate middle school choices & look outside of OUSD.
I believe this is not a very smart idea. I think this would cause problems in the school with the kids already there. Will they have to have an office space and bathrooms separated. Also there is a reason why the middle and high are separated their developmental areas are different. This is not ok, money should no have a say on what it's right for our kids!
I strongly oppose this resolution. You can not have high school students mix in with junior high school students. They separate high school from junior high for a reason. Junior high school students social, academic and behavioral skills are different from high school kids. Mixing the kids together will have greater problems and affect Junior high students overall. The board must vote NO regarding this issue.
As the parent of a Montera student, I oppose offering campus space to high school students. There is a reason for having separate facilities for middle school and high school students: The social, emotional, and physical development of a high school student at age fourteen to eighteen is far greater than that of a middle school student at age eleven to thirteen. Co-locating them on the same campus invites inappropriate behavior. I find it disheartening that OUSD staff failed as educational professionals to even consider this factor.
Further, OUSD is offering the space because the campus is close to EBIA's other facilities. This does not consider Montera's extremely impacted traffic situation. The small, narrow roads that access Montera hardly can accommodate its existing student population. EBIA staff would hardly have quick or convenient access from its other facilities. OUSD should consider other facilities that may be farther away, but quicker to access.
I strongly urge the OUSD Board overseeing Montera Middle to vote no. Montera Middle school is already full and has seen an increase in behavioral issues stemming from an influx of students. Increasing student count would increase behavioral challenges seen on campus. Additional concerns include: how EBIA students would be separated from Montera Students, how additional bathrooms designated for EBIA students would impact Montera facilities; would these students need after school space; will there be a full administration on site to deal with the various issues that kids experience and need immediate assistance with such as mental health, behavioral, personal, and academic issues? How do conflicts get resolved between two different systems? If EBIA has outgrown its high school facilities, then their enrollment should be capped, not expanded into a middle school. Developmentally there is a reason why middle and high schools exist rather than having one large system.
I have a 6th grader at Montera. This is a wonderful and diverse school with many students. I talked to our principal and he's very concerned how this could even work at our campus. There are obvious logistical concerns (space, transportation, lunch, restrooms) as well as "fit" concerns. How would this "campus within a campus" even work? Would these kids have a sense of community with EBIA or Montera or both? How could this be good for those kids? How could this be good for Montera kids?
It seems obvious that if a charter school can't accommodate more than a certain number kids at their campus, then they **shouldn't accept more than the number of kids that can fit on their campus.** What is being proposed is expanding a charter school (BOO).
If Montera (somehow) has room for more kids on our campus, then we should accept more MONTERA kids to experience the greatness of being a Toro. We have a great school with great students, staff, and teachers. Let us continue to thrive as Toros!
I am strongly opposed to this resolution, and urge the board to vote no. These students have already suffered developmental and academic setbacks due to Covid. They are just getting used to being back with their peers and adding high school students to the same campus is not appropriate. This proposal really feels like OUSD is not invested in our Montera students at all. There should be a focus on hiring and supporting the staff and students that are already there.
Middle Schools are separate from High Schools for a reason—the students are at critically different stages of social and emotional development. Moreover, Covid has delayed socialization to the point that you have 6th graders who are socially and emotionally 5th graders, and 8th graders who are socially and emotionally 7th graders. Adding High Schoolers to this population will further exacerbate the social and emotional challenges already brought about by Covid. Except unlike Covid this challenge is COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE!
Perhaps if the District paid enough to attract & retain teachers they could use the existing space to keep class sizes small. Perhaps if they didn’t eliminate GATE programs they could keep students challenged and “specialized classrooms” wouldn't go “underutilized.” Perhaps if they didn’t do any of these things they wouldn’t have parents fleeing the district for private schools. Perhaps they wouldn’t have teachers choosing higher pay in ANY of the neighboring counties.
But instead of investing in teachers and students, OUSD’s response is to make the District even less hospitable though consolidations and co-locations. This is a feedback loop of the Districts own making. Co-location will only accelerate the underlying problem and cause more parents to flee, which will make attendance dip even further next year, resulting in fewer resources from the state, leading to less investment in teachers & students, causing more flight, and so on! STOP THE CYCLE! VOTE NO ON CO-LOCATION!
As a middle school parent I oppose adding high school students to a middle school campus. Mixing in older high school students is a bad idea and disruptive to the Toro school community. Thank you.
Don't mess with pur community. Mixing 2 different schools is always a lit and uncomfortable for both schools. We've been apart of ousd doing this and it did not workout well. In the end everyone wants there own campus
Please don't add a charter school to Montera. The traffic around that area is horrible and this would just add to it. We don't need high schoolers on a middle school campus with an elementary school right next door. It's been difficult enough kids socialize to this year and not feel overwhelmed by the campus after 1.5 years off any school campus. Don't add any more stressors.
After 2 years of disruption and upheaval concerning COVID, adding high school students to a middle school campus will only cause more disruption. I’m concerned for the social-emotional welfare of these students as it is. Please vote no.
Use the space to hire a few more teachers and make some classes smaller! Is this school board aware that their mission is education! Dang. Your job is not to sacrifice EVERYTHING to grow the charter school movement. Let Montera be Montera, not some Frankenstein hybrid.
Please vote AGAINST the charter to take space on Montera's campus. First, there is no indication about the grade levels that would be placed at Montera. High school students bring their own emotional, behavioral, and cognitive needs. Placing high school students with middle school students defeats the purpose of having a campus designed for the needs of younger teenagers. Second, Montera has been working hard to build a campus culture aligned to particular core values; adding students from a different school with complicate this effort and impede the work of Montera's teachers and leaders.
Please do not add high schoolers to this middle school campus. First, there is already enough drama with the middle schoolers. Adding high schoolers is not going to help the situation. In addition, getting to and from Montera during the times that school starts and ends is already impossible for families. I am literally not able to get through the traffic to pick up my children (twins in 7th grade) to go to any after school appointments or activities; I have to plan to meet my kids at a bus stop somewhere away from the school so that I can get to them and race off to any 4:00 appointments. Adding more people on the campus, or coming and going to and from the campus, is not what Montera needs.
Please stop the silly ideas. This school already has 700 plus kids not to mention staff. There are already too many bodies on campus. Figure out something else. No need for this.
I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS RESOLUTION AND URGE THE BOARD TO VOTE NO. I have a 7th grader at Montera. The addition of high school students will impede in the learning, safety and socialization of Montera middle school students. This is an issue the charter shool needs to solve independently. This is an effort to expand charter schools - NOT help, improve or benefit Montera Middle School. The high school age charter school students should be on a campus with high school peers to create the community they deserve. The Montera Middle School campus is not the place for high school students or to place an overflow of students currently in the charter school system. Logistics with this proposal will also negatively impact the MMS students, staff and the neighboring community. Their isn't enough parking, buses are currently crowded moving thru the parking lot to drop students off and surrounding streets are narrow and already congested with traffic. This proposal is not beneficial to anyone.
I strongly oppose the proposal to add a High School charter (EBIA or others) at Montera Middle School. Introducing high school aged students to this small campus with no real way to separate the daily interaction of these disparate age groups is a recipe for trouble. The proposal promises this charter high school program specialized facilities such as laboratories. Will this take STEAM learning spaces from Montera students? Why should Montera facilities, which are supported, updated, and maintained using Montera PTO funds, be handed over to a charter? Montera's incoming 6th grade enrollment has a wait list. Sounds to me like Montera has no additional space for 2022-23. And if there is - why not open it to more of the Middle School aged children this campus is designed, equipped, and staffed to support? The high school aged charter school students deserve a campus for high school students. And Montera students deserve the safety and focus of a dedicated Middle School environment.
Charter schools are already under fire for leaching off resources that mainstream schools need, literally giving the resources in a physical way from our school to a charter is not going to send a message that you care about mainstream schools adequately. I'm the parent of a student there, and the last thing that school needs is anything taken from it. You should be having meetings on how you can expand Montera's impact, reach and resources, rather than shrinking them.
As a parent of two Montera students & another Toro on the way, I vote no to expanding the campus to accommodate a charter school. Middle school is a transition period for many - the distraction of more students & older students is too much. Logistics & parking alone is already challenging - why add to that? While we are a proud Toro family, I know that this change will lead many to discount Montera. They will make alternate middle school choices & look outside of OUSD.
I believe this is not a very smart idea. I think this would cause problems in the school with the kids already there. Will they have to have an office space and bathrooms separated. Also there is a reason why the middle and high are separated their developmental areas are different. This is not ok, money should no have a say on what it's right for our kids!
I strongly oppose this resolution. You can not have high school students mix in with junior high school students. They separate high school from junior high for a reason. Junior high school students social, academic and behavioral skills are different from high school kids. Mixing the kids together will have greater problems and affect Junior high students overall. The board must vote NO regarding this issue.
As the parent of a Montera student, I oppose offering campus space to high school students. There is a reason for having separate facilities for middle school and high school students: The social, emotional, and physical development of a high school student at age fourteen to eighteen is far greater than that of a middle school student at age eleven to thirteen. Co-locating them on the same campus invites inappropriate behavior. I find it disheartening that OUSD staff failed as educational professionals to even consider this factor.
Further, OUSD is offering the space because the campus is close to EBIA's other facilities. This does not consider Montera's extremely impacted traffic situation. The small, narrow roads that access Montera hardly can accommodate its existing student population. EBIA staff would hardly have quick or convenient access from its other facilities. OUSD should consider other facilities that may be farther away, but quicker to access.
I strongly urge the OUSD Board overseeing Montera Middle to vote no. Montera Middle school is already full and has seen an increase in behavioral issues stemming from an influx of students. Increasing student count would increase behavioral challenges seen on campus. Additional concerns include: how EBIA students would be separated from Montera Students, how additional bathrooms designated for EBIA students would impact Montera facilities; would these students need after school space; will there be a full administration on site to deal with the various issues that kids experience and need immediate assistance with such as mental health, behavioral, personal, and academic issues? How do conflicts get resolved between two different systems? If EBIA has outgrown its high school facilities, then their enrollment should be capped, not expanded into a middle school. Developmentally there is a reason why middle and high schools exist rather than having one large system.
I have a 6th grader at Montera. This is a wonderful and diverse school with many students. I talked to our principal and he's very concerned how this could even work at our campus. There are obvious logistical concerns (space, transportation, lunch, restrooms) as well as "fit" concerns. How would this "campus within a campus" even work? Would these kids have a sense of community with EBIA or Montera or both? How could this be good for those kids? How could this be good for Montera kids?
It seems obvious that if a charter school can't accommodate more than a certain number kids at their campus, then they **shouldn't accept more than the number of kids that can fit on their campus.** What is being proposed is expanding a charter school (BOO).
If Montera (somehow) has room for more kids on our campus, then we should accept more MONTERA kids to experience the greatness of being a Toro. We have a great school with great students, staff, and teachers. Let us continue to thrive as Toros!
I am strongly opposed to this resolution, and urge the board to vote no. These students have already suffered developmental and academic setbacks due to Covid. They are just getting used to being back with their peers and adding high school students to the same campus is not appropriate. This proposal really feels like OUSD is not invested in our Montera students at all. There should be a focus on hiring and supporting the staff and students that are already there.
Middle Schools are separate from High Schools for a reason—the students are at critically different stages of social and emotional development. Moreover, Covid has delayed socialization to the point that you have 6th graders who are socially and emotionally 5th graders, and 8th graders who are socially and emotionally 7th graders. Adding High Schoolers to this population will further exacerbate the social and emotional challenges already brought about by Covid. Except unlike Covid this challenge is COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE!
Perhaps if the District paid enough to attract & retain teachers they could use the existing space to keep class sizes small. Perhaps if they didn’t eliminate GATE programs they could keep students challenged and “specialized classrooms” wouldn't go “underutilized.” Perhaps if they didn’t do any of these things they wouldn’t have parents fleeing the district for private schools. Perhaps they wouldn’t have teachers choosing higher pay in ANY of the neighboring counties.
But instead of investing in teachers and students, OUSD’s response is to make the District even less hospitable though consolidations and co-locations. This is a feedback loop of the Districts own making. Co-location will only accelerate the underlying problem and cause more parents to flee, which will make attendance dip even further next year, resulting in fewer resources from the state, leading to less investment in teachers & students, causing more flight, and so on! STOP THE CYCLE! VOTE NO ON CO-LOCATION!
As a middle school parent I oppose adding high school students to a middle school campus. Mixing in older high school students is a bad idea and disruptive to the Toro school community. Thank you.
Don't mess with pur community. Mixing 2 different schools is always a lit and uncomfortable for both schools. We've been apart of ousd doing this and it did not workout well. In the end everyone wants there own campus
Please don't add a charter school to Montera. The traffic around that area is horrible and this would just add to it. We don't need high schoolers on a middle school campus with an elementary school right next door. It's been difficult enough kids socialize to this year and not feel overwhelmed by the campus after 1.5 years off any school campus. Don't add any more stressors.
After 2 years of disruption and upheaval concerning COVID, adding high school students to a middle school campus will only cause more disruption. I’m concerned for the social-emotional welfare of these students as it is. Please vote no.
Use the space to hire a few more teachers and make some classes smaller! Is this school board aware that their mission is education! Dang. Your job is not to sacrifice EVERYTHING to grow the charter school movement. Let Montera be Montera, not some Frankenstein hybrid.
Please vote AGAINST the charter to take space on Montera's campus. First, there is no indication about the grade levels that would be placed at Montera. High school students bring their own emotional, behavioral, and cognitive needs. Placing high school students with middle school students defeats the purpose of having a campus designed for the needs of younger teenagers. Second, Montera has been working hard to build a campus culture aligned to particular core values; adding students from a different school with complicate this effort and impede the work of Montera's teachers and leaders.
Please do not add high schoolers to this middle school campus. First, there is already enough drama with the middle schoolers. Adding high schoolers is not going to help the situation. In addition, getting to and from Montera during the times that school starts and ends is already impossible for families. I am literally not able to get through the traffic to pick up my children (twins in 7th grade) to go to any after school appointments or activities; I have to plan to meet my kids at a bus stop somewhere away from the school so that I can get to them and race off to any 4:00 appointments. Adding more people on the campus, or coming and going to and from the campus, is not what Montera needs.
Please stop the silly ideas. This school already has 700 plus kids not to mention staff. There are already too many bodies on campus. Figure out something else. No need for this.