R.-1 21-0013 Decision Hearing by the Board of Education - Adopting Resolution No. 2021-0042 - Denial of Material Revision to the Current Aspire ERES Academy Petition (Request to Raise Enrollment Cap from 250 to 600, for Grades TK-8 - July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2024), pursuant to Education Code Section 47605.
I am a parent of an 8th grader at UFSA and my younger daughter will be a 6th grader at UFSA next year. I am opposed to the expansion of Aspire ERES. There are plenty of fantastic public school options in the Fruitvale neighborhood. UFSA has been an amazing place for my child. The vast assortment of electives, the deep investment of the teachers, the extensive support for English language learners, etc. really make UFSA a special place. The expansion of ERES will create enrollment challenges and disrupt services at the public schools in our neighborhood. I urge the board to oppose the expansion of ERES.
I am a teacher and parent at Manzanita SEED (and a former teacher at Aspire!). Our neighborhood public schools provide a huge array of services to ALL students. ERES has nothing to offer that our neighborhood schools don't, it will not serve all students equitably, and meanwhile it will threaten the existence of our neighborhood schools. Please vote against the expansion of Aspire ERES.
ERES has created a great community of scholars and passionate educators! Consistency is very important in education and with all that is going on in the world, breaking up a strong community of learners will do a lot of damage. These families have trusted ERES to support their students. Please consider this before causing irreparable damage.
I am a teacher at United for Success Academy and I have seen the impact of charter schools opening and closing in the Fruitvale neighborhood. Ousd is already struggling with enrollment amongst ourselves. If Aspire Eres expands, it will hurt our enrollment, funding, and keeping our neighborhood kids to attend a local, public school. Ufsa is proud to accept any student who walks through our doors no matter what. We have seen our enrollment decrease when Epic opened, threatening our own livelihood as a public school, then be impacted when it closed. I would say, fund and focus on the public middle schools in Oakland that already exist and recognize that we offer so much to our community. We have the Native Am. Health Center that serves Life and Ufsa families, we have a robust electives program that nurtures our students to the fullest.
I am hoping the board opposes the expansion of Aspire Eres and focus on the current public schools that currently exist Oakland.
Candice Fukumoto
I am a special education teacher at UFSA, one of several schools that would be negatively impacted by the expansion of Aspire Eres. We do not need a larger charter school in this community, we need to invest in the public schools we already have, which provide critical services and programs for our students and families that are not provided at Aspire Eres. Our community continues to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and challenges with accessing distance learning. Shifting resources away from our current schools and allowing a charter to literally expand into our classrooms creates further obstacles to providing safe and equitable schooling during COVID, especially when we return to in-person instruction. Educators, families, and students in our community agree - Aspire Eres should NOT be allowed to expand.
I am an Oakland resident and taxpayer. I support Aspire ERES's request for enrollment expansion. To the OUSD Charter School Office and the facilities team: please work with ERES to find suitable facilities for their staff and students. Thank you.
Oakland Board of Education has been given the power to do what is right by current and future ERES students. I worked for OUSD for over 2 decades and never saw a high performing school like ERES. Please DO NOT close ERES down and let it expand. If you truly want to do what is best for Oakland youth, let them stay and expand. Please work with them to obtain another site in the Fruitvale suitable for more children to attend a great public school. I used to be against Charters. Now that I work for Aspire, I see the quality, research-based education that was/is missing from OUSD schools. Give quality a chance!!!! Thank you.
I support ERES Academy and my family stands with them ERES has impacted my sons education and helped to build their character. They are compassionate, educated and hardworking 10th and 6th grade scholars who live and go to school in Oakland. My dream is they will be able to give back to ERES in the future. I hope you stand with ERES and allow students in Oakland a high quality education they deserve!
ERES is what all schools should aspire to be. They are connected with their students, family, and community in a way that is responsive and serves their community's needs. The staff truly care about their students, and provide a trauma-informed and supportive environment for the students and families that they work with. The community that ERES has created will not be replicable if these students are dispersed into other OUSD public school sites. Tearing these children away from a school community that they so identify with, and away from stable and caring adults that they have worked with for years will further traumatize them, setting them up for failure when you place them in another OUSD school. Keeping this school open, and thriving, will help the Fruitvale and greater Oakland community thrive for generations to come.
ERES is a phenomenal school. We have an incredible community of staff, students and family, and we work together to create better outcomes for our students. We have made incredible gains in school climate and culture as well as academics. Closing down ERES, not allowing us to a grow is a shame on OUSD. You are denying hundreds of students the right to their choice and a better education than OUSD can provide.
As an Occupational Therapist for Aspire Public Schools I have had the privilege of seeing scholars at Eres School over the past 4 years. Eres is a unique, community values school filled with happy, dedicated teachers and run by an outstanding administration team. At an IEP meeting last week I witnessed a mother's tears as we discussed the tremendous progress their child had made in a year and the uncertainty and unknowns in another school. I implore the OUSD school board to please allow this outstanding educational establishment to continue to remain open to serve scholars in the Fruitvale community.
I am against the expansion of this charter school. Support improving our current and existing PUBLIC schools !
I oppose the expansion of this school. We need to focus on improving the schools we currently have.
I oppose the expansion of Aspire ERES. There are plenty of wonderful public schools for the kids on their waitlist.
I am a parent of an 8th grader at UFSA and my younger daughter will be a 6th grader at UFSA next year. I am opposed to the expansion of Aspire ERES. There are plenty of fantastic public school options in the Fruitvale neighborhood. UFSA has been an amazing place for my child. The vast assortment of electives, the deep investment of the teachers, the extensive support for English language learners, etc. really make UFSA a special place. The expansion of ERES will create enrollment challenges and disrupt services at the public schools in our neighborhood. I urge the board to oppose the expansion of ERES.
I am a teacher and parent at Manzanita SEED (and a former teacher at Aspire!). Our neighborhood public schools provide a huge array of services to ALL students. ERES has nothing to offer that our neighborhood schools don't, it will not serve all students equitably, and meanwhile it will threaten the existence of our neighborhood schools. Please vote against the expansion of Aspire ERES.
ERES has created a great community of scholars and passionate educators! Consistency is very important in education and with all that is going on in the world, breaking up a strong community of learners will do a lot of damage. These families have trusted ERES to support their students. Please consider this before causing irreparable damage.
I am a teacher at United for Success Academy and I have seen the impact of charter schools opening and closing in the Fruitvale neighborhood. Ousd is already struggling with enrollment amongst ourselves. If Aspire Eres expands, it will hurt our enrollment, funding, and keeping our neighborhood kids to attend a local, public school. Ufsa is proud to accept any student who walks through our doors no matter what. We have seen our enrollment decrease when Epic opened, threatening our own livelihood as a public school, then be impacted when it closed. I would say, fund and focus on the public middle schools in Oakland that already exist and recognize that we offer so much to our community. We have the Native Am. Health Center that serves Life and Ufsa families, we have a robust electives program that nurtures our students to the fullest.
I am hoping the board opposes the expansion of Aspire Eres and focus on the current public schools that currently exist Oakland.
Candice Fukumoto
No enrollment expansion for Aspire ERES's. Better funding for schools that students attend now.
I am a special education teacher at UFSA, one of several schools that would be negatively impacted by the expansion of Aspire Eres. We do not need a larger charter school in this community, we need to invest in the public schools we already have, which provide critical services and programs for our students and families that are not provided at Aspire Eres. Our community continues to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and challenges with accessing distance learning. Shifting resources away from our current schools and allowing a charter to literally expand into our classrooms creates further obstacles to providing safe and equitable schooling during COVID, especially when we return to in-person instruction. Educators, families, and students in our community agree - Aspire Eres should NOT be allowed to expand.
I am an Oakland resident and taxpayer. I support Aspire ERES's request for enrollment expansion. To the OUSD Charter School Office and the facilities team: please work with ERES to find suitable facilities for their staff and students. Thank you.
Oakland Board of Education has been given the power to do what is right by current and future ERES students. I worked for OUSD for over 2 decades and never saw a high performing school like ERES. Please DO NOT close ERES down and let it expand. If you truly want to do what is best for Oakland youth, let them stay and expand. Please work with them to obtain another site in the Fruitvale suitable for more children to attend a great public school. I used to be against Charters. Now that I work for Aspire, I see the quality, research-based education that was/is missing from OUSD schools. Give quality a chance!!!! Thank you.
I support ERES Academy and my family stands with them ERES has impacted my sons education and helped to build their character. They are compassionate, educated and hardworking 10th and 6th grade scholars who live and go to school in Oakland. My dream is they will be able to give back to ERES in the future. I hope you stand with ERES and allow students in Oakland a high quality education they deserve!
ERES is what all schools should aspire to be. They are connected with their students, family, and community in a way that is responsive and serves their community's needs. The staff truly care about their students, and provide a trauma-informed and supportive environment for the students and families that they work with. The community that ERES has created will not be replicable if these students are dispersed into other OUSD public school sites. Tearing these children away from a school community that they so identify with, and away from stable and caring adults that they have worked with for years will further traumatize them, setting them up for failure when you place them in another OUSD school. Keeping this school open, and thriving, will help the Fruitvale and greater Oakland community thrive for generations to come.
ERES is a phenomenal school. We have an incredible community of staff, students and family, and we work together to create better outcomes for our students. We have made incredible gains in school climate and culture as well as academics. Closing down ERES, not allowing us to a grow is a shame on OUSD. You are denying hundreds of students the right to their choice and a better education than OUSD can provide.
As an Occupational Therapist for Aspire Public Schools I have had the privilege of seeing scholars at Eres School over the past 4 years. Eres is a unique, community values school filled with happy, dedicated teachers and run by an outstanding administration team. At an IEP meeting last week I witnessed a mother's tears as we discussed the tremendous progress their child had made in a year and the uncertainty and unknowns in another school. I implore the OUSD school board to please allow this outstanding educational establishment to continue to remain open to serve scholars in the Fruitvale community.