School Board
The OUSD board voted 5-2 to deny the application of Lazear Elementary, which is slated to close after this school year, to convert to a charter school.
If the Oakland Unified School District is going to keep schools from leaving to become charters, it needs to change its policy on local school governance, board member David Kakishiba (District 2) told fellow board members at a special meeting on Wednesday night. “The bottom line is if we don’t move affirmatively in some concrete ways, we’ll have more ASCENDs and Learning Without Limits,” Kakishiba said. ASCEND and Learning Without Limits are two current district small elementary schools that successfully…
The Oakland Unified School District board reconvened Thursday afternoon after Wednesday night’s meeting was adjourned early thanks to chanting protesters who drowned out the board members’ discussion. Nine people were arrested later that night when they refused to leave the chambers as they protested the shutdown of five elementary schools.
In an emotional, chaotic meeting that had numerous contentious items on the agenda, the Oakland school board postponed most of its agenda until the next day after the meeting was interrupted by a group chanting and blocking the entrance to the board members’ desks.
OUSD Superintendent Tony Smith addressed controversial topics like the “Acceleration Teacher on Special Assignment” position that was created at three schools, which extends the school year there by a month. He also spoke about ”partnership schools”—charter schools that retain a close relationship with the district, the district’s budget and role in the city, as well as about how those who work for the district can do a better job of educating kids, especially young African American male students.
Two Fruitvale area elementary schools denied permission to become charter schools earlier this year had that decision reversed by the Oakland Unified School District board at a special meeting Wednesday night.
In January, the OUSD board voted to reject charter school applications from two elementary schools, ASCEND and Learning Without Limits. Shortly after the denial by the school board, school and district officials began meeting over a compromise measure that would allow the schools to become charter schools but also have stronger ties to the district than other such schools.
Oakland will have a new charter school in the fall, but two schools that wanted to leave the Oakland Unified School District to become charters will have to stay. Meanwhile, two charter schools that already exist within the district will be around for at least five more years after the school board renewed their charters Wednesday night.
More than a hundred parents and teachers packed the Oakland Unified School District’s boardroom for Wednesday night’s meeting, with dozens more watching from the 4th floor overflow room, following a march from Laney College earlier that afternoon. The topic of contention: school closures.