Education

Residents take OUSD to task for delays on community schools and reparations for Black students

Oakland Unified School District is behind schedule on implementing two important projects, one with over $75 million in state funding.  Educators, parents and students voiced their frustration at Wednesday’s board meeting, saying the district has failed on its promise to establish a task force on student equity and a committee to allocate a grant for community schools. “We have a very simple ask tonight,” said Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, vice president of the Oakland Education Association, during public comment. “That the board…

You can help determine the future of Oakland’s Main Library

Oakland and the Oakland Public Library are inviting residents to reimagine the Main Library. This year’s last Re-imagine the Oakland Main Library workshop is Thursday, during which attendees can create vision boards, fill out a survey and record a video responding to the prompt: “That Would Be Cool If…” The city has allocated $600,000 to contract with the architectural firm Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis to study the feasibility of an expanded or relocated Main Library. The Feasibility Study Team…

Despite rain, Lincoln Elementary students keep walking toward $45,000 goal

Kid-friendly covers of today’s hits echoed through Oakland Chinatown Sunday morning as students walked laps around Lincoln Elementary to raise money for school activities.  “Good job, dragons,” teachers and volunteers chanted, as the children splashed through the rain. “Keep on walking!” The goal was to raise $45,000 in Lincoln Elementary’s 14th annual Walk-a-Thon.  Each student found sponsors who pledged a certain amount per lap of the city-block circuit they completed.  Mukta Sambrani, Lincoln principal, said the fundraiser was started by the…

How painting your life story can promote healing

Every Sunday for the last six weeks, Craig Morris has walked through Oakland streets populated by drug users to St. Mary’s Center, the shelter, soup kitchen and transitional housing provider that pulled him from the brink. There, Morris, who is 60 years old, painted a canvas as part of the Sacred Storytelling Art Project, a program created by St. Mary’s and the Center for ArtEsteem to uplift older Oaklanders. Morris and 11 others worked on self-portraits depicting some difficult aspect…

OUSD District 5 school board candidates meet young voters for Q&A

More than 100 students and adults gathered at Fremont High School in Oakland Thursday to learn about the District 5 school board candidates, Jorge Lerma and Sasha Ritzie Hernandez. Since Mike Hutchinson ended his term early in March due to Oakland’s redistricting process, District 5’s school board seat has been vacant, leaving around 7,000 students unrepresented. The special election will happen on Nov. 7 to fill the District 5 seat on the Oakland Unified School District board.  The Fremont High…

Skyline High School closed Wednesday after shooting on campus

Shots were fired Tuesday morning on the Skyline High School campus, prompting a lockdown and leading to two arrests. No one was injured in the shooting, which happened around 11:20 a.m. Skyline will be closed Wednesday while police investigate the shooting. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Oakland police Capt. Jake Bassett said police recovered a handgun and other evidence on campus. He would not say where on campus the shooting occurred, how many shots were fired or if any…

Dozens of tutors needed to help OUSD kids overcome COVID learning loss

Path2Math director Margena Wade-Green and six high school tutors gathered in a circle to prepare for the day of summer school ahead. Wade-Green led everyone in a deep breath and instructed them to leave everything outside the classroom behind and “prepare to welcome the babies.” When the babies — actually six second grade students — arrived, a few ran to hug their tutors. And then the tutors got to work at individual stations, each with a bag of practice worksheets…

OUSD makes strides in helping Yemeni students achieve, but families say more is needed

Two years ago, the Oakland Unified School District promised hundreds of Yemeni students that it would offer more services in Arabic, including hiring more Arabic-speaking teachers, to help kids from the war-torn country achieve.  During the Fifth Annual OUSD Arab American Student Excellence Honor Roll Celebration at the end of April, the district made good on some of what was promised. “OUSD has done wonderful jobs making students feel at home,” Fathia Mohamed, whose child attends Skyline High School, said…

Strike ends: Oakland teachers return to work with 10% pay raise

Oakland Unified School District teachers will return to work Tuesday, 12 days after striking when the union and district could not come to an agreement on wages and other issues. The three-year tentative deal, retroactive to Nov. 1, 2022, includes a 10% raise and a $5,000 one-time payment, a compensation package that Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell called “historic,” at a Monday afternoon news conference. Under the contract, first-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree will earn $62,296. Other points that Johnson-Trammell highlighted…