Board Watch

Not everyone is able to attend every OUSD Board meeting, but many educators and community members care about the discussions and decisions that occur.  Since September 2009, the GO Public Schools volunteer Board Agenda Watch Team has previewed and explained board meeting agendas, attended board meetings and then shared their notes to highlight discussions and decisions.

The Board Agenda Watch Team puts a spotlight on board activities, brings more voices into the discussion, and makes board members more accountable to our community.  There are several ways to access the materials from this team:

1. Sign up to receive an email when we post pre-board meeting agendas and post board meeting summaries
2. Subscribe to the GO Public Schools YouTube channel to access video clips from board meetings
3. Access the blogs below for an archive of meeting summaries
4. Volunteer as part of this Issues Group

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8/24/2011 - School Board Blog

School Closures and Mergers (School Portfolio Management):

There was no list of schools presented to the Board for possible closure at tonight's School Board meeting. Additionally, school selected for closure under this process will not be closed until the 2012-13 school year.

Superintendent Smith and David Montes, of the Office of Quality School Development, presented the proposed criteria for selecting schools for closure or merger.  The District Staff's overview of the process can be found here. (PPT)  After much discussion and public comment, the Board unanimously adopted the proposed criteria

Immediately following the vote, the Board agreed to set up a special Board Study Session.  At the Board Study Session, District staff will apply the criteria and make recommendations about school closures and mergers.  Supt. Smith shared his thought that the Board should take action to close the schools by the October 26th Board meeting.

President Yee and District staff emphasized the need to the move quickly enough so that the transitioning families can be supported through the District's Options process.

The Board has ultimate decision-making power about which schools to close.

Urban Montessori: 
The Board voted 4-3 to reject the official resolution documenting the Board's reasons for denying the Urban Montessori Charter School.  In their discussion, Directors Hodge, Kakishiba, and Gallo noted the need for the District to have an frank conversation regarding the role of charter school in the District.

Facilities Update:
Tim White, the head of the District's Facilities Department, gave a presentation regarding the progress of OUSD's summer construction project.  Mr. White also discussed the ways that facilities are being evaluated in terms of supporting Thriving Students.

Public Comment:
The NAACP:  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) appeared to remind the School Board about the letter they delivered last summer and to raise awareness of plight of African-American students.

School Police Chief:  Family and associates of Raheim Brown (a young man killed during an altercation with Oakland school police officers) protested the District's the decision to appoint the officer accused of unjustly shooting Mr. Brown to the position of the Interim Police Chief.  The Oakland School Police Chief recently resigned due to allegations that he used racial slurs.

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Board Reviews Budget, Charter Proposals, and Strategic Plan

The last OUSD Board meeting of the 2010-2011 school year featured, among other items, the final presentation of the 2011-2012 budget and presentations of three charter school petitions.

During the first half of the board meeting, Vernon Hall's presented the 12th version of the 2011-2012 budget proposal. The new budget of $ 472.8 million was passed a week later on June 29th and includes 3 million dollars less than initially proposed, 10.4 million dollar cuts from the Unrestricted General Fund budget, and severe cuts to adult education. Board President Yee expressed his appreciation for the district's work on the budget, but commented it is important in future fiscal discussions for the district to align its work with the strategic plan's budget priorities.  For more information on the 2011-2012 Budget, click here to read reporter Katy Murphy's blog entry.

At the beginning of the meeting, Superintendent Tony Smith thanked the community and his staff for their work on the five-year strategic plan Thriving Students. In his final report, he shared that it is time to begin the implementation process and acknowledged, "if [OUSD] wants to improve, [it] needs to be clear about where we haven't met the standard."

Public comments included the NAACP's Oakland branch and a group supporting retired teachers. The NAACP vocalized a myriad of concerns from students and alumni about the lack of equitable educational opportunities at OUSD's high schools. The group supporting retired teachers shared that they were told that their jobs as Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment [BTSA] coaches were being eliminated, but Superintendent Smith later responded he was unaware of this reduction and promised to examine the issue immediately.

In the second half of the meeting, three charter schools-Urban Montessori, Rocketship Education, and Legacies of Excellence presented their petitions and surfaced concerns from a few Board members about increasing the number of charter schools in Oakland.

Here are some highlights from their presentations:

Urban Montessori proposes to be the first K to 8 Montessori school aligned to state standards and presenters indicated they would like to make sure the school reflects the racial and socioeconomic diversity of Oakland. London asked the charter's presenters if they would be open to making the Montessori an OUSD school because, although she would welcome a Montessori model, she is not interested in losing another 700 students to a charter. School organizers shared they are open to discussions with OEA but the current OUSD contract would not support the specific two-year Montessori teacher training program.

Rocketship Education, which currently has 3 operating schools in San Jose, is petitioning to open a school in West Oakland. Co-founders emphasized their early student achievement gains and their hybrid model, in which all students participate in an online learning lab after school. Rocketship received the most critical comments from Board members. For example, Board member Spearman first questioned the charter group's level of authentic "community talk" in West Oakland, drawing particular attention to a slide that listed Oakland community members the charter had contacted.  Later, Hodge shared her concerns about having another outside group attempt to come in and reform West Oakland schools because there have been many "false [reform] starts." She also expressed that she is worried about a potential racial split if the charter was approved, because Rocketship schools predominantly serve the Latino community in the South Bay. According to the Alameda County of Public Health 2005 Community Profile, 16 percent of the West Oakland community is Latino.

Legacies of Excellence was the last and most warmly received presentation. The school's founders shared they seek to open a middle school in East Oakland to serve high need students, mainly young people in the foster care system who demonstrate either low school attendance or do not attend school. Their curriculum will be themed around agriculture and include nutrition, garden, and culinary education. Board members Spearman, London, and Hodge shared appreciations for the "innovative", "refreshing" approach the charter founders were taking and Board president Yee encouraged the founders to see what potential curricular connections they could make to the 25 Career Pathways available in OUSD high schools, like the Life Academy Health and Bioscience program.

Two critical goals for the GO Public Schools Leadership Center are 1) to increase access to information about decision-making impacting Oakland public schools and 2) to promote decision-making in alignment with our beliefs and visions.

In the 2009-2010 school year, GO formed the Board Agenda Watch, a group of volunteers who review each OUSD Board of Education meeting agenda and highlight a items and issues that impact our beliefs and visions.

The Board Agenda Watch encourages greater community participation at school board meetings and increases accountability for board members' positions on the issues facing our public schools.

We are looking for volunteers to join our team! If you are interested in reviewing Board agendas or attending Board meetings, please email Casey today!

Click here to access the OUSD Legislative Calendar.