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Agenda Item
I.-1 24-2794 Adoption by the Board of Education of AB 1912 Recommendations (Votes, if any, shall be Recorded In Consecutive Legislative Files):
First, Adoption of Resolution No. 2425-0020 - Concluding the AB 1912 Community Engagement Process; and
Second, Adoption of Resolution No. 2425-0015 - Initiating School Mergers (Second Reading), effective 2025-26 Year (Or alternatively 2026-27 Year).
Please do not merge the manzanita schools. There are other ways to save money that have less impact on student outcomes. A merger would be disruptive to their education ands would result in enormous class sizes.
I have 2 children who attend Manzanita SEED and I oppose these mergers. We chose and remain in OUSD because of the dual immersion program at Manzanita SEED. With these mergers, Manzanita’s campus would be the largest elementary in OUSD and the dual immersion program would be impacted. These mergers would lead to a decrease in enrollment at Manzanita SEED and across the district.
I genuinely understand the economies of scale that lead OUSD to note that we have more seperate school sites for fewer students than may ultimately be feasible...but the current proposal does not seem to be done with intention and care. Have you checked with ELLMA and Teaching and Learning to fully understand what it would look like to provide ongoing quality professional development to the two dual immersion sites which will be merged with English-only campuses, while simultaneously providing quality support to those using the English only curricula? Is there historical precedent that tells you, "this will work"?
Yo soy padre Ics
No queremos perder al personal ics
Queremos que la escuela se mantenga pequeña piensan x los niños
Ellos van a poner triste x favor no lo dañen
I continue to oppose school closures, as my son is living proof
that it causes harm. in his case,ending up at a school where he was emotionally and physically harmed, and he's never recovered and continues to learn online with much learning loss and regression. I really URGE The district to find a way to deal with their budget, and not take these actions and cause further harm. I would also like to thank the Board President, VIce President, DIrector Brouhard, Music THerapist, Barsotti, Mr Rydeen, and Mr Porter as well as Other parent Leaders for the New Legislative Matter, Item W1 "save our Future". Hoping the district will implement this plan, as it will help to protect all students, especially, Our Most vulnerable Students. Many Blessings to ALl for this upcoming Holiday season, and May Everyone Be Happy, Safe, and Joy FULL!! :).
Mergers are closures, and closures disproportionately affect our most vulnerable students. They save little, if any, money and destroy public faith in the district.
As a parent of a studentat Manzanita Seed, I opposed this merger. We need to provide resources to our children, not take them away. We cannot rush these decisions without real community input.
Y boy hablar por muchos padres que no estamos de acuerdo a combinar nuestra escuela ICS y TCN. Creemos que esta acción perjudica la base que hace nuestra escuela extraudinaria
Tanto ICS Y TCN tienen un programa distinto.
ICS tiene un programa de doble inmersión la cual nos permite que podamos comunicarnos con los maestros en los dos idiomas
Lo que hace la construcción de relaciones sólidas con las familias y maestros de ICS.
No queremos perder al personal de ICS .
Queremos que la escuela se mantenga pequeña,
Por favor no dañen a los estudiantes con cambios que sabemos que no van a funcionar .
I oppose the merging of dual sites, especially those that house dual immersion programs. As a parent of 2 4th graders at Manzanita SEED I echo our community’s concerns that merging will severely disrupt the effectiveness of the immersion programming which is critical for so many of our families. The upheaval of people’s lives and systems will be notable, especially in an upcoming political climate that will intensify the targeting of these communities.
Additionally, the speculated budget outcomes of the merger are insignificant compared to the outcomes of “cutting from the top”.
Please consider the people they will ACTUALLY be impacted by this decision. Honor their needs, their neighborhoods, their education, and their lives. Do not merge!
I oppose the mergers. I am a parent of twin 4th graders at Manzanita SEED. We understand there are many budget pressures and cuts will need to be made, but after reviewing the budget proposals I do not believe merging the manzanita schools (SEED and MCS) will be financially worth the trouble/suffering. Other dual immersion schools that have merged with single language schools in OUSD have lost the strength of their bilingual programs. This merger proposal will degrade the unique value of our dual immersion schools at OUSD and reduce this special asset in our district. We must find other ways to cut costs and raise funds. Try merging two schools in the hills where they have the financial resources to manage it better, don’t target the flats where we are already barely getting by.
This is an unacceptable way to try to address the district's budget issues. Financial solutions should not come at the expense of the children who OUSD is obligated to serve. As a long-time resident of Oakland, I believe the children in this city deserve to go through schooling without having their educational institutions dismantled at a whim due to poorly thought out political decisions. They deserve to not have their education upended and disrupted over budgetary issues, that can be handled more effectively and without causing as much harm. I grew up in a school district that suffered budget cuts and had critical programs and resources slashed as a result – the students and staff suffered, and it showed in our educational outcomes.
Please vote to oppose the school mergers! This will do lasting harm to our students and our community, worsening our enrollment problems, and reducing the positive results we’ve seen. There has not been sufficient community engagement and this feels very rushed. We don’t even have complete data on savings or impact. Please vote no!
I strongly appose the mergers of these schools. Please engage the community in planning any restructuring that needs to take place before voting on anything!!!
Please vote NO on school closures! As a teacher in OUSD I can attest to the ways small schools and bilingual programs meet the needs of our students, particularly with respect to literacy. We are in a crisis of literacy with tons of students, disproportionately black and brown students, reading far below grade level. Closing schools robs students of the attention and resources required to make up gaps in literacy and continue to grow as readers and learners.
Please vote NO on school mergers. I have a fourth grader at Manzanita SEED. As you well know, merging these schools will do way more harm to the students, the schools and OUSD as a whole than the meager financial benefit of merging the schools. There has also been an astounding lack of transparency throughout this entire process. The plan is ill-conceived, rushed and lacks tangible benefits.
Please put students first and vote NO on these school mergers.
I am opposed to the school mergers. I have been an educator in OUSD for 16 years and I am a parent of 3 children at Manzanita SEED. I am opposed to the merger because it only saves a very small amount of money and turns the two schools into a school with almost 800 students. They will not get more staff to manage that number of students. A school of that size needs more support and more staff. I don’t want my children to be 3 of 800. Will they be able to serve enough families for after school care? Will the schools get to keep all of the grants they have that are specific to their school. Also we choose SEED because of the dual immersion program. A lot of my husband’s family only speak Spanish and it’s important to us that our girls are fluent in Spanish. I don’t believe the dual immersion program will be the same if the schools merge. Managing 2 different programs with different curriculum is a lot of work for a principal to manage. And I worry the dual language program will suffer.
As a recently-graduated Oakland public school student, I am strongly opposed to reduction (or "restructuring," to use the language of the text) of staff and faculty, and to school closures and mergers. We have tried this before without success. I know from experience that completely restructuring a school is not the way to get more consistent student attendance--in fact, the opposite is true. Similarly, cutting staff positions is financially ineffective and has a deeply negative impact on students' day-to-day lives.
Students are not easily calculated into the impersonal logic of "operational and administrative efficiencies." These particular schools exist to target the failures of administrative efficiency. They are necessary. Cost avoidance is a very compelling idea, but it does not translate to this situation in real life. I question the logic of overturning the stability of students who need it most: we should be prioritizing them, not treating them as transferable assets.
Please do not merge the manzanita schools. There are other ways to save money that have less impact on student outcomes. A merger would be disruptive to their education ands would result in enormous class sizes.
I have 2 children who attend Manzanita SEED and I oppose these mergers. We chose and remain in OUSD because of the dual immersion program at Manzanita SEED. With these mergers, Manzanita’s campus would be the largest elementary in OUSD and the dual immersion program would be impacted. These mergers would lead to a decrease in enrollment at Manzanita SEED and across the district.
No on mergers!
I genuinely understand the economies of scale that lead OUSD to note that we have more seperate school sites for fewer students than may ultimately be feasible...but the current proposal does not seem to be done with intention and care. Have you checked with ELLMA and Teaching and Learning to fully understand what it would look like to provide ongoing quality professional development to the two dual immersion sites which will be merged with English-only campuses, while simultaneously providing quality support to those using the English only curricula? Is there historical precedent that tells you, "this will work"?
Yo soy padre Ics
No queremos perder al personal ics
Queremos que la escuela se mantenga pequeña piensan x los niños
Ellos van a poner triste x favor no lo dañen
I continue to oppose school closures, as my son is living proof
that it causes harm. in his case,ending up at a school where he was emotionally and physically harmed, and he's never recovered and continues to learn online with much learning loss and regression. I really URGE The district to find a way to deal with their budget, and not take these actions and cause further harm. I would also like to thank the Board President, VIce President, DIrector Brouhard, Music THerapist, Barsotti, Mr Rydeen, and Mr Porter as well as Other parent Leaders for the New Legislative Matter, Item W1 "save our Future". Hoping the district will implement this plan, as it will help to protect all students, especially, Our Most vulnerable Students. Many Blessings to ALl for this upcoming Holiday season, and May Everyone Be Happy, Safe, and Joy FULL!! :).
Mergers are closures, and closures disproportionately affect our most vulnerable students. They save little, if any, money and destroy public faith in the district.
As a parent of a studentat Manzanita Seed, I opposed this merger. We need to provide resources to our children, not take them away. We cannot rush these decisions without real community input.
Yo soy Elsa madre de estudiantes de ICS
Y boy hablar por muchos padres que no estamos de acuerdo a combinar nuestra escuela ICS y TCN. Creemos que esta acción perjudica la base que hace nuestra escuela extraudinaria
Tanto ICS Y TCN tienen un programa distinto.
ICS tiene un programa de doble inmersión la cual nos permite que podamos comunicarnos con los maestros en los dos idiomas
Lo que hace la construcción de relaciones sólidas con las familias y maestros de ICS.
No queremos perder al personal de ICS .
Queremos que la escuela se mantenga pequeña,
Por favor no dañen a los estudiantes con cambios que sabemos que no van a funcionar .
I oppose the merging of dual sites, especially those that house dual immersion programs. As a parent of 2 4th graders at Manzanita SEED I echo our community’s concerns that merging will severely disrupt the effectiveness of the immersion programming which is critical for so many of our families. The upheaval of people’s lives and systems will be notable, especially in an upcoming political climate that will intensify the targeting of these communities.
Additionally, the speculated budget outcomes of the merger are insignificant compared to the outcomes of “cutting from the top”.
Please consider the people they will ACTUALLY be impacted by this decision. Honor their needs, their neighborhoods, their education, and their lives. Do not merge!
Thank you,
Fetch Phoenix
I oppose the mergers. I am a parent of twin 4th graders at Manzanita SEED. We understand there are many budget pressures and cuts will need to be made, but after reviewing the budget proposals I do not believe merging the manzanita schools (SEED and MCS) will be financially worth the trouble/suffering. Other dual immersion schools that have merged with single language schools in OUSD have lost the strength of their bilingual programs. This merger proposal will degrade the unique value of our dual immersion schools at OUSD and reduce this special asset in our district. We must find other ways to cut costs and raise funds. Try merging two schools in the hills where they have the financial resources to manage it better, don’t target the flats where we are already barely getting by.
My niece is a first grader at Manzanita Seed and I oppose the merge. She is very excited to learn Spanish and that should not be taken away. Vote NO!
This is an unacceptable way to try to address the district's budget issues. Financial solutions should not come at the expense of the children who OUSD is obligated to serve. As a long-time resident of Oakland, I believe the children in this city deserve to go through schooling without having their educational institutions dismantled at a whim due to poorly thought out political decisions. They deserve to not have their education upended and disrupted over budgetary issues, that can be handled more effectively and without causing as much harm. I grew up in a school district that suffered budget cuts and had critical programs and resources slashed as a result – the students and staff suffered, and it showed in our educational outcomes.
Please vote to oppose the school mergers! This will do lasting harm to our students and our community, worsening our enrollment problems, and reducing the positive results we’ve seen. There has not been sufficient community engagement and this feels very rushed. We don’t even have complete data on savings or impact. Please vote no!
Commenting in my personal capacity - Please do not close this school.
I strongly appose the mergers of these schools. Please engage the community in planning any restructuring that needs to take place before voting on anything!!!
Please vote NO on school closures! As a teacher in OUSD I can attest to the ways small schools and bilingual programs meet the needs of our students, particularly with respect to literacy. We are in a crisis of literacy with tons of students, disproportionately black and brown students, reading far below grade level. Closing schools robs students of the attention and resources required to make up gaps in literacy and continue to grow as readers and learners.
Please vote NO on school mergers. I have a fourth grader at Manzanita SEED. As you well know, merging these schools will do way more harm to the students, the schools and OUSD as a whole than the meager financial benefit of merging the schools. There has also been an astounding lack of transparency throughout this entire process. The plan is ill-conceived, rushed and lacks tangible benefits.
Please put students first and vote NO on these school mergers.
Thank you.
I am opposed to the school mergers. I have been an educator in OUSD for 16 years and I am a parent of 3 children at Manzanita SEED. I am opposed to the merger because it only saves a very small amount of money and turns the two schools into a school with almost 800 students. They will not get more staff to manage that number of students. A school of that size needs more support and more staff. I don’t want my children to be 3 of 800. Will they be able to serve enough families for after school care? Will the schools get to keep all of the grants they have that are specific to their school. Also we choose SEED because of the dual immersion program. A lot of my husband’s family only speak Spanish and it’s important to us that our girls are fluent in Spanish. I don’t believe the dual immersion program will be the same if the schools merge. Managing 2 different programs with different curriculum is a lot of work for a principal to manage. And I worry the dual language program will suffer.
As a recently-graduated Oakland public school student, I am strongly opposed to reduction (or "restructuring," to use the language of the text) of staff and faculty, and to school closures and mergers. We have tried this before without success. I know from experience that completely restructuring a school is not the way to get more consistent student attendance--in fact, the opposite is true. Similarly, cutting staff positions is financially ineffective and has a deeply negative impact on students' day-to-day lives.
Students are not easily calculated into the impersonal logic of "operational and administrative efficiencies." These particular schools exist to target the failures of administrative efficiency. They are necessary. Cost avoidance is a very compelling idea, but it does not translate to this situation in real life. I question the logic of overturning the stability of students who need it most: we should be prioritizing them, not treating them as transferable assets.
A merger would not save funding in the long term, and would harm people and families whose first language is not English.