It’s been a while since my last update—I’ve been busy! I’ll keep this to broad strokes so it doesn’t get too long. A lot has been happening at our Oakland Unified Board meetings, with another one starting in a few hours.



Drive Carefully—Fiscal Cliff Ahead

Our recent budget report from CBO Lisa Grant-Dawson shows a very healthy reserve, but a $10.5M deficit in our unrestricted funding for next year (the part of the budget where OUSD feels the most pressure). 



This is similar to districts across California, which like Oakland are currently flush thanks to federal and state COVID relief, but also like Oakland are facing declining enrollment and a state budget that is severely tightening its belt for the next few years.



This projected deficit is still there even after we made $16M in budget adjustments in February, because staff were unable to find sufficient places to make cuts without drastically undermining school site budgets. 

Staff’s advice to us, in a blistering memo, was that we instead need to thoroughly restructure Oakland Unified next year, including via school consolidations and mergers, so that the number of schools we have matches the number of students, which continues to fall due to demographic changes.



School districts across California are facing the same problem—Inglewood just voted to close five schools, and San Francisco is planning to take that action this fall—because of California’s high cost of living for families and dropping birth rate.





Click to watch the Feb. 13 forum with CBO Lisa Grant-Dawson on OUSD's budget issues.

Alameda County put our Board on notice that it will not tolerate further fiscal profligacy, with our county trustee Luz Cázares overturning my minor amendment to the budget adjustments to save 4.5 translator positions for one more year.




In a recent meeting with organized labor, I likened the District to an elderly relative of mine who sold her house last year. Like the COVID relief funds did for the District, the house sale has allowed my relative to continue living an unsustainable lifestyle far beyond what she can afford with her pension. When I point out to her that she has already gone through $50,000 of her savings in the past nine months, she shrugs and retorts that she still has a lot of money—she’ll change her ways when she needs to.




Labor and the District may disagree on what the unsustainable expenses are—they point to a large central office and our many contracts with outside agencies (such as those for special education services, which they believe could be provided more effectively in-house), while the District emphasizes that there are too many schools and a very costly employee medical plan. 




No matter which perspective you align with, there’s no denying that we are tearing through our fat reserve fund at a great rate.

A slide from OUSD's Mar. 13 Second Interim Report shows our bank account is very flush but dropping fast.



Like my elderly relative, the big reserves are not going to be an issue that we are arguing about for very long—they’ll be gone before you know it! I just wish we were investing them in an educational system for the future, instead of using them to prop up the infrastructure of the past.

I held a Budget Town Hall with Director Clif Thompson and CBO Lisa Grant-Dawson on Feb. 7—you are welcome to watch the recording or review the slides.



Congratulations to the Oakland Tech Bulldogs Boys’ Basketball team who won the 2024 Division 2 state championship!



Charter School Study Session

On Monday, our Board had an excellent in-depth study session on our role as a charter school authorizer. 



During the pandemic, the Governor and Legislature chose to extend all charter terms by three years, with the result that our Board has had very little interaction with charter schools since I’ve been elected, aside from the usual agonizing over Prop 39 requests for space on OUSD campuses (which have also radically declined in my time in office—there are only 2 on our agenda for tonight, possibly the fewest ever). We did get one application for a new charter and one for a charter expansion in 2021, both of which we denied.



However, this fall there are 9 charter schools up for renewal with OUSD, and another 4 with Alameda County. The study session educated us on what are the legal grounds for approving or denying charter renewals, among other topics. It’s going to mean a lot of intense meetings this fall to decide which will be renewed and which not; at this point, we can't even agree with the charters on the meeting schedule.



One charter school, North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS), is sadly required to close this summer. In conjunction with their last renewal in 2019, they signed an agreement with OUSD that they would voluntarily close if their next two years of test scores did not go up. Because of the suspension of state testing during the pandemic, it has taken until now for that agreement to come due, during which their enrollment has also dropped by half. 



Any school closure is a difficult and painful decision. However, NOCCS is contesting their closure, so we’ll see what happens.



Another charter school, Lighthouse Community Charter, is applying tonight to increase their enrollment. Since it is a relatively small increase, our Charter School Office has opined that it does not count as an expansion under state law. At the study session, we asked staff to develop guidelines on what exactly constitutes a charter expansion. 



The vast majority of charters in Oakland are currently declining in enrollment, not expanding. The pandemic was not kind to charters, which lost over 2000 students in Oakland over the past 4 years. However, we need to have clearer standards on this issue for the future.



Congratulations to the Oakland High Wildcats Girls’ Basketball team which also won the 2024 state championship in Division V!



Enrolling at Oakland Unified

Families that enrolled for this fall at Oakland Unified by February 10 got their enrollment offers on March 6. They must accept them by end of day today, March 27, to keep their spots. After accounting for those who do not, there will be another round of offers on April 3, with the next deadline to accept them on April 23.





Congratulations to Oakland High student Alani Wilson, who was recognized for her activism with Californians for Justice at Supervisor Lena Tam’s Black History Month event!





2024-25 School Calendar Changing Again!

Good gosh, it turns out that our labor partners changed their minds about next year’s calendar, and want the date of the first day of school to be Monday, August 12, instead of Thursday, August 8. 



That’s fine with me of course, and I expect the Board will approve that change on April 10. However, it’s unacceptable to have the date decided so late and with this much confusion, so we really must negotiate the calendar for three years at a time starting next year.





Hundreds of high school seniors from across Oakland Unified came to the Historically Black Colleges & Universities Caravan at Oakland Tech, where I learned some OUSD history from longtime employees LaDonna Williams, Dr. Allie Whitehurst, and Orlando Gray.



FAFSA Blues

If you have a senior like me, then of course you aren’t agonizing about the OUSD calendar for next year, but about the delays with the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) which was revised this year but had a messy rollout. 



It’s worst for those, like many in Oakland, for whom one or both parents are undocumented, or who are undocumented themselves, because the new form asks for Social Security numbers. It also requires parents to set up online accounts, which is hard for those who lack online access or experience.

If you know a student in one of those situations, please help them to complete the FAFSA using this guide. Too many members of the Class of 2024 are delaying or canceling their college plans because of these problems.

Oakland Tech’s Debate Team hosted an Alameda County Supervisor candidate debate forum on Feb.13; pictured are assistant principal Errico Bachicha, student debate team hosts Mia Tran and Lucy Margulis, and City Council President (and first-place finisher) Nikki Fortunato Bas.



Internet Rebates Ending

Congress has spent most of this year squabbling, not even renewing the popular Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which provides rebates for internet service. There is bipartisan support to do so, since most of the rebates go to rural customers, but even that isn’t enough for the MAGA fanatics that control its agenda.



Local non-profit #OaklandUndivided (OU) did a great job signing up our families for the ACP, which sadly will expire on April 30 due to Congressional inaction. Enrolled households like mine can expect to see an increase in their bill of up to $30 after April 30th. 



All ACP enrollees are allowed to cancel or switch their current plan without penalty before April 30, 2024. Visit oaklandundivided.org/ACP for more information.



Come See Oakland Students Perform!

With that, I wish everyone a restful Spring Break, but before you go, don’t forget to buy your tickets online to the performance of Chicago at Oakland Tech. The dates are April 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th & 27th at 7:00 pm. It’s going to be outstanding!



Across town, the Oakland High Visual Arts and Media Program will be performing The Addams Family on April 18th, 19th & 20th at 7:00 pm.



Thanks to my advocacy, there will also be a performing arts stage at the Creative Arts Expo in Old Oakland on the afternoon of April 20th from 12:00-5:00 pm, featuring Kev Choice and OUSD student art and performances.



With state Prop 28 funding coming into full effect next year, we can expect the performing arts in our schools to continue to thrive and expand. So I’m glad I can end on that positive note!



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