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"content": "\u003cp>As Oakland’s school district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062643/oakland-unified-wins-budget-approval-but-faces-dire-warning-on-financial-future\">faces fiscal insolvency\u003c/a>, its top budget official is warning that the school board’s unwillingness to cut services could make it impossible to balance a budget next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a>’s board directed staff to prepare two plans that cut $100 million from the 2026–27 budget to stay afloat. That demand came with broad parameters: no school closures or mergers, maintaining school resources and student-facing roles and reducing the district’s administrative arm — the “central office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re a school district. And a school district’s majority of its funds are in schools,” Chief Business Officer Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “There’s not $100 million in the central office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two budget scenarios staff plan to present to the school board on Wednesday would cut far less than their goal. The more scant version would total $21.8 million in savings and recommends cutting 53 roles across administrative offices, with the greatest reductions in communications and the Superintendent’s office, a department which trains and supports new employees, fiscal services and academics. The other would only cut six roles and save the district $16.8 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board President Jennifer Brouhard, who co-authored the resolution directing staff to propose the cuts, said it was an “initial direction,” but that she and other board members “understood from the start that further discussions with the Superintendent would be necessary to identify additional cuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said the board also asked staff to consider other elements of the district’s spending, including a potential restructuring of its school “networks,” or groups of schools that are under the purview of a network superintendent, and plans to increase revenue through enrollment and identification of services that the district can deliver in-house instead of contracting out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At our next special meeting on Dec. 3, I am excited to see plans for the remaining components of the resolution,” Brouhard said via email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget crisis comes after years of warnings from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\">state watchdogs\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059238/alameda-county-to-oakland-schools-reduce-costs-or-lose-financial-independence-again\">county and district officials\u003c/a> that OUSD is outspending its revenue, setting it on the path toward bankruptcy. The district did declare bankruptcy in 2003 and was bailed out by a loan from the state that came with decades of intense oversight, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043062/as-ousd-gets-closer-to-controlling-its-finances-new-budget-challenges-loom\">made its final loan payment over the summer\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12059238 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250603-OUSD-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Even so, the past few years have been rocky — OUSD has outspent its revenue by up to $4 million per month, forcing service cuts and spending down a strong reserve fund built up during the pandemic, when schools received hefty relief payments from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some board members and the teachers’ union have long blamed OUSD’s central office for the overspending problem, calling it bloated and pointing to the high salaries of top officials. But Grant-Dawson said recent cuts have already relied heavily on shrinking the administration, making deeper reductions to non-student services difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the board accepts a proposed reduction in its number of cleaning staff, Grant-Dawson said the district will ask school sites to utilize fewer classrooms and buildings on their campuses. Likewise, laying off employees in the budget office means school sites will have less flexibility in how they spend their site-specific funding, since there won’t be a district staff member to help implement those changes in the larger budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to be able to do less,” Grant-Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slim, four-member board majority led by Brouhard passed the resolution calling for the reduction plans last month, after hours of circling debate over how to address OUSD’s dire budget situation, while maintaining student and school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11912882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11912882\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Kids play outside at school.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play a game during recess at Grass Valley Elementary School in Oakland on April 28, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The same contingent, which is backed by the teachers’ union, has pushed through a number of controversial proposals since January, including amendments to last year’s budget reduction plan that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">unintentionally cut after-school programs\u003c/a> and had to be reversed and a shocking deal to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">part with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a> before the end of her contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the year, the board’s already tense relationship with district staff, and each other, has grown increasingly tenuous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, Grant-Dawson said she warned the board that their budget-balancing amendments could have unintended consequences, like the after-school program funding snafu, before it passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we did do that, it was like, ‘The staff is trying to keep us from [doing what we want],’” Grant-Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board takes public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Having to present the plan that made the cuts, then later reverse them, created more work for her team. So has developing budget-balancing plans year after year at the board’s direction, then watching as many go unimplemented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD’s history reveals an undeniable pattern: requesting plans, then disregarding them; rejecting staff recommendations; changing direction and directions, and, when difficult decisions are finally made, rescinding them shortly thereafter,” Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro said in a letter to OUSD last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told KQED that balancing the budget under the current circumstances “is absolutely 100% possible, but it would require a really significant change of pattern and action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our business team has been alerting the Board and the community about these oncoming financial challenges for several years,” Interim Superintendent Denise Saddler, who took over this summer while the district searches for a new permanent leader, wrote in a letter to families earlier this month. “We could see the need to take measures to mitigate the financial drop off on the horizon, and we have made clear the need to make hard choices long before now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12056737 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Saddler said it would be impossible to make the massive budget reduction — which equals about 20% of the district’s unrestricted funding — without impacting students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People we know and care about will lose their jobs. Programs our students love will be reduced or eliminated. Services our families depend on will change,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all of the staff reductions in either budget scenario would necessarily come through layoffs. The district plans to offer employees who are over the age of 55 and have served in OUSD for at least five years an early retirement buy-out in June, and the school board directed the superintendent to implement a hiring freeze last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is supposed to vote on its budget cut plan next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said prior to Wednesday’s meeting, she hadn’t discussed the partial proposals with board members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not in that place,” she said. “They haven’t reached out. They don’t reach out like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As Oakland’s school district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062643/oakland-unified-wins-budget-approval-but-faces-dire-warning-on-financial-future\">faces fiscal insolvency\u003c/a>, its top budget official is warning that the school board’s unwillingness to cut services could make it impossible to balance a budget next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a>’s board directed staff to prepare two plans that cut $100 million from the 2026–27 budget to stay afloat. That demand came with broad parameters: no school closures or mergers, maintaining school resources and student-facing roles and reducing the district’s administrative arm — the “central office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re a school district. And a school district’s majority of its funds are in schools,” Chief Business Officer Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “There’s not $100 million in the central office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two budget scenarios staff plan to present to the school board on Wednesday would cut far less than their goal. The more scant version would total $21.8 million in savings and recommends cutting 53 roles across administrative offices, with the greatest reductions in communications and the Superintendent’s office, a department which trains and supports new employees, fiscal services and academics. The other would only cut six roles and save the district $16.8 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board President Jennifer Brouhard, who co-authored the resolution directing staff to propose the cuts, said it was an “initial direction,” but that she and other board members “understood from the start that further discussions with the Superintendent would be necessary to identify additional cuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said the board also asked staff to consider other elements of the district’s spending, including a potential restructuring of its school “networks,” or groups of schools that are under the purview of a network superintendent, and plans to increase revenue through enrollment and identification of services that the district can deliver in-house instead of contracting out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At our next special meeting on Dec. 3, I am excited to see plans for the remaining components of the resolution,” Brouhard said via email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget crisis comes after years of warnings from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\">state watchdogs\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059238/alameda-county-to-oakland-schools-reduce-costs-or-lose-financial-independence-again\">county and district officials\u003c/a> that OUSD is outspending its revenue, setting it on the path toward bankruptcy. The district did declare bankruptcy in 2003 and was bailed out by a loan from the state that came with decades of intense oversight, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043062/as-ousd-gets-closer-to-controlling-its-finances-new-budget-challenges-loom\">made its final loan payment over the summer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even so, the past few years have been rocky — OUSD has outspent its revenue by up to $4 million per month, forcing service cuts and spending down a strong reserve fund built up during the pandemic, when schools received hefty relief payments from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some board members and the teachers’ union have long blamed OUSD’s central office for the overspending problem, calling it bloated and pointing to the high salaries of top officials. But Grant-Dawson said recent cuts have already relied heavily on shrinking the administration, making deeper reductions to non-student services difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the board accepts a proposed reduction in its number of cleaning staff, Grant-Dawson said the district will ask school sites to utilize fewer classrooms and buildings on their campuses. Likewise, laying off employees in the budget office means school sites will have less flexibility in how they spend their site-specific funding, since there won’t be a district staff member to help implement those changes in the larger budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to be able to do less,” Grant-Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slim, four-member board majority led by Brouhard passed the resolution calling for the reduction plans last month, after hours of circling debate over how to address OUSD’s dire budget situation, while maintaining student and school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11912882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11912882\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Kids play outside at school.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/RS55654_027_KQED_GrassValleyElementarySchoolOakland_04282022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play a game during recess at Grass Valley Elementary School in Oakland on April 28, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The same contingent, which is backed by the teachers’ union, has pushed through a number of controversial proposals since January, including amendments to last year’s budget reduction plan that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">unintentionally cut after-school programs\u003c/a> and had to be reversed and a shocking deal to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">part with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a> before the end of her contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the year, the board’s already tense relationship with district staff, and each other, has grown increasingly tenuous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, Grant-Dawson said she warned the board that their budget-balancing amendments could have unintended consequences, like the after-school program funding snafu, before it passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we did do that, it was like, ‘The staff is trying to keep us from [doing what we want],’” Grant-Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board takes public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Having to present the plan that made the cuts, then later reverse them, created more work for her team. So has developing budget-balancing plans year after year at the board’s direction, then watching as many go unimplemented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD’s history reveals an undeniable pattern: requesting plans, then disregarding them; rejecting staff recommendations; changing direction and directions, and, when difficult decisions are finally made, rescinding them shortly thereafter,” Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro said in a letter to OUSD last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told KQED that balancing the budget under the current circumstances “is absolutely 100% possible, but it would require a really significant change of pattern and action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our business team has been alerting the Board and the community about these oncoming financial challenges for several years,” Interim Superintendent Denise Saddler, who took over this summer while the district searches for a new permanent leader, wrote in a letter to families earlier this month. “We could see the need to take measures to mitigate the financial drop off on the horizon, and we have made clear the need to make hard choices long before now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12056737 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Saddler said it would be impossible to make the massive budget reduction — which equals about 20% of the district’s unrestricted funding — without impacting students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People we know and care about will lose their jobs. Programs our students love will be reduced or eliminated. Services our families depend on will change,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all of the staff reductions in either budget scenario would necessarily come through layoffs. The district plans to offer employees who are over the age of 55 and have served in OUSD for at least five years an early retirement buy-out in June, and the school board directed the superintendent to implement a hiring freeze last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is supposed to vote on its budget cut plan next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said prior to Wednesday’s meeting, she hadn’t discussed the partial proposals with board members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not in that place,” she said. “They haven’t reached out. They don’t reach out like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "oakland-unified-wins-budget-approval-but-faces-dire-warning-on-financial-future",
"title": "Oakland Unified Wins Budget Approval but Faces Dire Warning on Financial Future",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Unified Wins Budget Approval but Faces Dire Warning on Financial Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After months of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059238/alameda-county-to-oakland-schools-reduce-costs-or-lose-financial-independence-again\">uncertainty\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> has officially received approval for its budget for the current school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision from the Alameda County Office of Education came with a stern warning, however: The district’s longtime strategy of covering costs with one-time money and reneging on budget reductions isn’t going to cut it in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The removal of conditions and approval of OUSD’s budget should not be mistaken for a sign of fiscal health or stability,” County Superintendent Alysse Castro wrote in a letter to district leaders on Saturday. “OUSD remains on a trajectory toward insolvency and the potential loss of the very local control it worked for over 20 years to regain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the summer, OUSD paid off a state loan that bailed it out of bankruptcy in 2003, allowing it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055977/ousd-just-got-control-of-its-finances-back-from-the-state-its-already-in-major-trouble\">full budgetary control\u003c/a> for the first time in two decades this fall. But the district could again face state and county oversight within months if it fails to make major spending reductions next year — a task that would be difficult for any school board, and seems almost unimaginable for Oakland’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely 100% possible, but it would require a really significant change of pattern and action,” Castro told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD’s history reveals an undeniable pattern: requesting plans, then disregarding them; rejecting staff recommendations; changing direction and directions, and, when difficult decisions are finally made, rescinding them shortly thereafter,” her letter read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and supporters attend a board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Castro said OUSD has long spread resources too thin, operating more schools than is fiscally responsible, given its enrollment and trying to provide more services at each school than it can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD opened 40 new campuses in the early 2000s as part of a community schools initiative, despite enrollment declines similar to those seen across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726682/why-does-oakland-have-so-many-small-schools#:~:text=Does%20OUSD%20really%20have%20that,32%2C000%20students%20attend%2046%20schools.\">operated 87 campuses for 37,000 students\u003c/a>, compared with nearby Fremont Unified School District, which had about half as many schools for just over 35,000 students. In San Jose Unified, about 32,000 students attended 46 schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school board \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937906/oakland-school-board-halts-controversial-closure-plan-sparing-5-elementary-schools\">approved shuttering five schools in 2022\u003c/a>, but later reversed the decision.[aside postID=news_12059238 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250603-OUSD-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Since then, district staff have repeatedly told the board it must dramatically reduce spending, only for the board to reject or amend plans to do so, preventing the district from moving toward financial sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district is currently … spending $4 million more every month than it’s receiving in revenues,” the district’s chief business officer, Lisa Grant-Dawson, wrote in a letter to families in September. “The more we do that moving forward, the more we diminish our reserves, until eventually, we run out of money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 2025-2026 school year, OUSD has enough money to cover operating expenses and maintain a required reserve equal to 3% of its annual spending for unexpected costs, thanks in part to reserves built during COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts across California saw their general fund, which is used to pay for the majority of expenses, grow during the pandemic because of state relief money. While many have also seen those balances fall, OUSD’s decline has been far steeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s general fund went from a negative balance in 2019 to more than $62 million in 2023. Two years later, it sits at just $3.4 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To remain solvent next year, the district must find about $100 million in ongoing spending reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037466\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037466\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders, rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In October, the board directed staff to provide two budget scenarios to make those cuts, but Castro said a laundry list of parameters included in the board resolution might make it an impossible task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the challenges of this new resolution is that it really does go in a dramatically different direction and places some very firm constraints on some strategies,” she told KQED. “While the staff is working to come up with scenarios that meet those conditions, it’s really an open question whether they will be able to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s directions bar any school closures or mergers and instruct staff to make cuts that “do not directly impact students in schools.”[aside postID=news_12055977 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-11_qed-1020x656.jpg']Last month, Grant-Dawson said parts of the plan were confusing, and that district staff would need clarifications and possible revisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Castro described the plan as both “vague and overly prescriptive.” She wrote that it contains complicated contingencies and, in addition to budget cuts, requests additional plans to simultaneously increase attendance and revise existing board policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each of those processes, she said, is time- and resource-intensive and requires a lengthy development and adoption process during which plans could stall or be rejected. The plan also lacks broad support from a deeply divided board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all major votes this year have been split 4-3. A four-member majority backed by the teachers union has passed controversial resolutions, including one to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">part with the district’s longtime superintendent\u003c/a> and another that revised the board’s previous budget planning directions for 2025-2026 — changes that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">unintentionally canceled after-school programs\u003c/a> and were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">later reversed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11730659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11730659\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/03/OUSDpic-e1551815959793.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1104\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students pack an Oakland school board meeting on Monday, March 4, to oppose nearly $22 million in budget cuts. \u003ccite>(Vanessa Rancaño/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an expensive use of central office resource to keep making new plans, which is ironic because there’s this chronic frustration on the part of the Board about the cost of running central office,” Castro said. “But it’s not just expensive in terms of current year dollars, it’s expensive in terms of exhaustion. Really high-quality staff leave OUSD because they’re frustrated with patterns that don’t change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the board could revisit multiple budget-balancing plans it directed staff to make in recent years — most of which have been rejected or amended to a point that they no longer make the necessary level of reductions after members bow to union or parent pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being an OUSD board member is an incredibly hard job,” Castro said. But “balancing the budget and aligning resources to priorities is the key role of a school board. This is the work that this board was elected to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Alameda County Office of Education approved Oakland Unified’s budget but warned the district must cut $100 million to avoid insolvency and possible state oversight.",
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"title": "Oakland Unified Wins Budget Approval but Faces Dire Warning on Financial Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After months of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059238/alameda-county-to-oakland-schools-reduce-costs-or-lose-financial-independence-again\">uncertainty\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> has officially received approval for its budget for the current school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision from the Alameda County Office of Education came with a stern warning, however: The district’s longtime strategy of covering costs with one-time money and reneging on budget reductions isn’t going to cut it in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The removal of conditions and approval of OUSD’s budget should not be mistaken for a sign of fiscal health or stability,” County Superintendent Alysse Castro wrote in a letter to district leaders on Saturday. “OUSD remains on a trajectory toward insolvency and the potential loss of the very local control it worked for over 20 years to regain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the summer, OUSD paid off a state loan that bailed it out of bankruptcy in 2003, allowing it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055977/ousd-just-got-control-of-its-finances-back-from-the-state-its-already-in-major-trouble\">full budgetary control\u003c/a> for the first time in two decades this fall. But the district could again face state and county oversight within months if it fails to make major spending reductions next year — a task that would be difficult for any school board, and seems almost unimaginable for Oakland’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely 100% possible, but it would require a really significant change of pattern and action,” Castro told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OUSD’s history reveals an undeniable pattern: requesting plans, then disregarding them; rejecting staff recommendations; changing direction and directions, and, when difficult decisions are finally made, rescinding them shortly thereafter,” her letter read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and supporters attend a board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Castro said OUSD has long spread resources too thin, operating more schools than is fiscally responsible, given its enrollment and trying to provide more services at each school than it can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD opened 40 new campuses in the early 2000s as part of a community schools initiative, despite enrollment declines similar to those seen across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726682/why-does-oakland-have-so-many-small-schools#:~:text=Does%20OUSD%20really%20have%20that,32%2C000%20students%20attend%2046%20schools.\">operated 87 campuses for 37,000 students\u003c/a>, compared with nearby Fremont Unified School District, which had about half as many schools for just over 35,000 students. In San Jose Unified, about 32,000 students attended 46 schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school board \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937906/oakland-school-board-halts-controversial-closure-plan-sparing-5-elementary-schools\">approved shuttering five schools in 2022\u003c/a>, but later reversed the decision.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since then, district staff have repeatedly told the board it must dramatically reduce spending, only for the board to reject or amend plans to do so, preventing the district from moving toward financial sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district is currently … spending $4 million more every month than it’s receiving in revenues,” the district’s chief business officer, Lisa Grant-Dawson, wrote in a letter to families in September. “The more we do that moving forward, the more we diminish our reserves, until eventually, we run out of money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 2025-2026 school year, OUSD has enough money to cover operating expenses and maintain a required reserve equal to 3% of its annual spending for unexpected costs, thanks in part to reserves built during COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts across California saw their general fund, which is used to pay for the majority of expenses, grow during the pandemic because of state relief money. While many have also seen those balances fall, OUSD’s decline has been far steeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s general fund went from a negative balance in 2019 to more than $62 million in 2023. Two years later, it sits at just $3.4 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To remain solvent next year, the district must find about $100 million in ongoing spending reductions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037466\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037466\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders, rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In October, the board directed staff to provide two budget scenarios to make those cuts, but Castro said a laundry list of parameters included in the board resolution might make it an impossible task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the challenges of this new resolution is that it really does go in a dramatically different direction and places some very firm constraints on some strategies,” she told KQED. “While the staff is working to come up with scenarios that meet those conditions, it’s really an open question whether they will be able to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s directions bar any school closures or mergers and instruct staff to make cuts that “do not directly impact students in schools.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last month, Grant-Dawson said parts of the plan were confusing, and that district staff would need clarifications and possible revisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Castro described the plan as both “vague and overly prescriptive.” She wrote that it contains complicated contingencies and, in addition to budget cuts, requests additional plans to simultaneously increase attendance and revise existing board policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each of those processes, she said, is time- and resource-intensive and requires a lengthy development and adoption process during which plans could stall or be rejected. The plan also lacks broad support from a deeply divided board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all major votes this year have been split 4-3. A four-member majority backed by the teachers union has passed controversial resolutions, including one to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">part with the district’s longtime superintendent\u003c/a> and another that revised the board’s previous budget planning directions for 2025-2026 — changes that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">unintentionally canceled after-school programs\u003c/a> and were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">later reversed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11730659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11730659\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/03/OUSDpic-e1551815959793.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1104\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students pack an Oakland school board meeting on Monday, March 4, to oppose nearly $22 million in budget cuts. \u003ccite>(Vanessa Rancaño/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an expensive use of central office resource to keep making new plans, which is ironic because there’s this chronic frustration on the part of the Board about the cost of running central office,” Castro said. “But it’s not just expensive in terms of current year dollars, it’s expensive in terms of exhaustion. Really high-quality staff leave OUSD because they’re frustrated with patterns that don’t change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the board could revisit multiple budget-balancing plans it directed staff to make in recent years — most of which have been rejected or amended to a point that they no longer make the necessary level of reductions after members bow to union or parent pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being an OUSD board member is an incredibly hard job,” Castro said. But “balancing the budget and aligning resources to priorities is the key role of a school board. This is the work that this board was elected to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "alameda-county-to-oakland-schools-reduce-costs-or-lose-financial-independence-again",
"title": "Alameda County to Oakland Schools: Reduce Costs, or Lose Financial Independence, Again",
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"headTitle": "Alameda County to Oakland Schools: Reduce Costs, or Lose Financial Independence, Again | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s school board passed a resolution on Tuesday asking district staff to propose major budget reductions over the next two years as it faces \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055977/ousd-just-got-control-of-its-finances-back-from-the-state-its-already-in-major-trouble\">threats of new county oversight\u003c/a> just months after regaining local financial control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But whether the legislation can curb the district’s rapid overspending, or even lead to an implementation of funding changes, is another story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is also lacking is what the Board is going to do to partner with us,” OUSD’s chief business officer, Lisa Grant-Dawson, told the board on Tuesday. “I see nowhere that the board will not accept a staff recommendation on reduction of positions, where the board will not reverse [our cuts] — because that is our reality too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday night’s resolution, which passed with a slim four-to-three majority, comes after Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro warned in a letter to OUSD last month that she would not grant the district full budget approval if it did not comply with certain cost-reducing changes by its final November deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her conditions for approval were identifying a total dollar amount that OUSD needs to cut to re-balance its 2025-26 budget based on updated financial information and approving a resolution by Oct. 8 that outlines a timeline and plan to address that projected shortfall in 2025-26, and a future one expected in 2026-27.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042892\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board listens to public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. Students, families, educators, and community members raised their concerns about a proposed merger of their schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The resolution, passed in the final hours before the deadline, directs staff to develop budgeting scenarios that would cut tens of millions of dollars from next year’s spending plan and propose potential mid-year program and service cuts that could reduce spending already allocated for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Grant-Dawson cautioned that in order to make actual gains in getting OUSD back in the black, the board would now have to approve, and stick to, her team’s suggestions — a feat OUSD’s board hasn’t always been able to achieve in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to speak truth to power and come back here Nov. 8 with [suggestions], I really need the board to be able to consider those components,” she said. “None of this [budget cutting] we want to do, right? But truly, [my team is] wanting to do this work without it being upended when you’re asking for a recommendation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school district’s long track record of overspending — and reneging on spending cuts — dates back years.[aside postID=news_12055977 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-11_qed-1020x656.jpg']In 2003, it declared bankruptcy and was bailed out by a loan from the state. Over the next two decades, it was under the state’s eye as it paid off that debt and finally regained local control this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even when it was under oversight, the district’s school board has repeatedly floated, then backed off, plans to close schools and impose personnel and service cuts, as it weathers declining enrollment and increasing operational costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, it approved a plan to close five schools, but reversed the plan the following year, before it took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the board attempted to make major progress on its long-term budget balancing process dubbed the “three Rs” — redesigning how it operates schools, restructuring its funding and staffing models and re-envisioning how many schools it supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after months of back and forth, the board took no action in December on a school merger plan — proposed as part of the re-envisioning component. It did authorize staff to implement 30 other cost-cutting solutions into its 2025–26 budget proposal, including centralizing contracts, reducing schools’ discretionary funding, potentially eliminating some positions and reducing the majority of overtime pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, new board leadership passed legislation adding caps to some spending categories that have historically been seen as not student-focused, like consultant fees and external contracts. The “alternative budget solutions” were designed to shift necessary spending reductions away from school sites and classroom positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and supporters attend a board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These changes made the spending plan for 2025-2026 even tighter, though, after causing controversial after-school program cuts that\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\"> were ultimately reversed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the district adopted its 2025-26 budget, it’s also had to increase its special education budget and update salary and staffing costs based on bargaining agreements with its unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series of moves means OUSD began the fiscal year spending about $4 million more than it makes each month, Grant-Dawson said. She said reasonably, OUSD needs to cut $20 million from this year’s spending plan, and $80 million from next year’s, to prevent draining its mandatory reserve fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution approved Wednesday, directing Grant-Dawson and her staff to identify cuts for this year and next, asks that their proposed budget scenarios focus on cuts to administrative and centralized services and positions that “have the least impact on students in schools.” It also prohibits proposing school closures and mergers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution doesn’t make any concrete spending changes, and any that Grant-Dawson’s staff does suggest at next month’s budget study session would have to be approved by the board before taking effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board takes public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said she would also need major clarification, and likely rewriting, of parts of the legislation to avoid proposing unintended, and potentially catastrophic, changes — like the cuts to after-school programs this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county will decide by its final budget approval deadline on Nov. 8 if Tuesday’s resolution — and any concrete plan for cutting costs that comes from it — satisfies its standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it doesn’t, the county could be forced to retake control of OUSD’s finances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district must take further actions, listed below, to formally obtain approval of the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” Castro’s letter last month read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is imperative that the board fully exercise its fiduciary responsibility and governance authority,” it continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The vote followed a warning from Alameda County to rein in overspending, just months after the district came out of state conservatorship. ",
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"title": "Alameda County to Oakland Schools: Reduce Costs, or Lose Financial Independence, Again | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s school board passed a resolution on Tuesday asking district staff to propose major budget reductions over the next two years as it faces \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055977/ousd-just-got-control-of-its-finances-back-from-the-state-its-already-in-major-trouble\">threats of new county oversight\u003c/a> just months after regaining local financial control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But whether the legislation can curb the district’s rapid overspending, or even lead to an implementation of funding changes, is another story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What is also lacking is what the Board is going to do to partner with us,” OUSD’s chief business officer, Lisa Grant-Dawson, told the board on Tuesday. “I see nowhere that the board will not accept a staff recommendation on reduction of positions, where the board will not reverse [our cuts] — because that is our reality too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday night’s resolution, which passed with a slim four-to-three majority, comes after Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro warned in a letter to OUSD last month that she would not grant the district full budget approval if it did not comply with certain cost-reducing changes by its final November deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her conditions for approval were identifying a total dollar amount that OUSD needs to cut to re-balance its 2025-26 budget based on updated financial information and approving a resolution by Oct. 8 that outlines a timeline and plan to address that projected shortfall in 2025-26, and a future one expected in 2026-27.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042892\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-026_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board listens to public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. Students, families, educators, and community members raised their concerns about a proposed merger of their schools. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The resolution, passed in the final hours before the deadline, directs staff to develop budgeting scenarios that would cut tens of millions of dollars from next year’s spending plan and propose potential mid-year program and service cuts that could reduce spending already allocated for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Grant-Dawson cautioned that in order to make actual gains in getting OUSD back in the black, the board would now have to approve, and stick to, her team’s suggestions — a feat OUSD’s board hasn’t always been able to achieve in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re going to speak truth to power and come back here Nov. 8 with [suggestions], I really need the board to be able to consider those components,” she said. “None of this [budget cutting] we want to do, right? But truly, [my team is] wanting to do this work without it being upended when you’re asking for a recommendation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school district’s long track record of overspending — and reneging on spending cuts — dates back years.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 2003, it declared bankruptcy and was bailed out by a loan from the state. Over the next two decades, it was under the state’s eye as it paid off that debt and finally regained local control this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even when it was under oversight, the district’s school board has repeatedly floated, then backed off, plans to close schools and impose personnel and service cuts, as it weathers declining enrollment and increasing operational costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, it approved a plan to close five schools, but reversed the plan the following year, before it took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the board attempted to make major progress on its long-term budget balancing process dubbed the “three Rs” — redesigning how it operates schools, restructuring its funding and staffing models and re-envisioning how many schools it supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after months of back and forth, the board took no action in December on a school merger plan — proposed as part of the re-envisioning component. It did authorize staff to implement 30 other cost-cutting solutions into its 2025–26 budget proposal, including centralizing contracts, reducing schools’ discretionary funding, potentially eliminating some positions and reducing the majority of overtime pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, new board leadership passed legislation adding caps to some spending categories that have historically been seen as not student-focused, like consultant fees and external contracts. The “alternative budget solutions” were designed to shift necessary spending reductions away from school sites and classroom positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037460\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-17_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and supporters attend a board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These changes made the spending plan for 2025-2026 even tighter, though, after causing controversial after-school program cuts that\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\"> were ultimately reversed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the district adopted its 2025-26 budget, it’s also had to increase its special education budget and update salary and staffing costs based on bargaining agreements with its unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series of moves means OUSD began the fiscal year spending about $4 million more than it makes each month, Grant-Dawson said. She said reasonably, OUSD needs to cut $20 million from this year’s spending plan, and $80 million from next year’s, to prevent draining its mandatory reserve fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution approved Wednesday, directing Grant-Dawson and her staff to identify cuts for this year and next, asks that their proposed budget scenarios focus on cuts to administrative and centralized services and positions that “have the least impact on students in schools.” It also prohibits proposing school closures and mergers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resolution doesn’t make any concrete spending changes, and any that Grant-Dawson’s staff does suggest at next month’s budget study session would have to be approved by the board before taking effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241211-OUSDMergerVote-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Board takes public comment during a meeting at La Escuelita Elementary School in Oakland, California, on Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said she would also need major clarification, and likely rewriting, of parts of the legislation to avoid proposing unintended, and potentially catastrophic, changes — like the cuts to after-school programs this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county will decide by its final budget approval deadline on Nov. 8 if Tuesday’s resolution — and any concrete plan for cutting costs that comes from it — satisfies its standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it doesn’t, the county could be forced to retake control of OUSD’s finances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The district must take further actions, listed below, to formally obtain approval of the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” Castro’s letter last month read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is imperative that the board fully exercise its fiduciary responsibility and governance authority,” it continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "OUSD Just Got Control of Its Finances Back From the State. It’s Already in Major Trouble",
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"headTitle": "OUSD Just Got Control of Its Finances Back From the State. It’s Already in Major Trouble | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:30 p.m., Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> only just regained local control this summer after a state bailout two decades ago, and already top officials are warning that it is spending past its means and quickly falling back into perilous financial territory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the Oakland school board last week, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro warned that it will need to propose major budget revisions in the next month to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043062/as-ousd-gets-closer-to-controlling-its-finances-new-budget-challenges-loom\">avoid running out of funds\u003c/a> during this academic year, risking insolvency for the second time in recent memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland Unified School District enters Fiscal Year 2025–26 under full local control for the first time in a generation; however, the same fiscal and decision-making issues that have plagued the district for many years remain,” Castro wrote in her annual report of the district’s finances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter detailed a series of moves by the school board over the last year that have pushed the district toward disarray: first failing to take action on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">a plan to merge schools\u003c/a> in December to save about $3 million annually, and later continuing to renege on its own service and personnel cuts meant to close a $95 million budget deficit for the 2025–26 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, district budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson wrote in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communications-public-affairs/newsroom/news/~board/ousd-news/post/the-closing-of-the-books-for-the-2024-25-budget-continues-the-sobering-financial-news-for-the-district\">separate letter to families\u003c/a> that OUSD’s expenses have been outpacing revenue by about $4 million a month for nearly a year. The district’s budget reserve has shrunk by 53% in the last year, dwindling from $118 million to just $55.8 million, according to newly updated financial information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said that reserve will shrink further this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spending plan passed in June already violated OUSD’s policy to maintain reserves of at least 3% of its budget for unexpected expenses. Based on the updated numbers, Grant-Dawson said the district will not only spend the small $374,000 cushion it did preserve but also dip below the state’s lower 2% reserve requirement, risking financial insolvency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like districts across the state, Oakland is struggling with declining enrollment, rising costs for services and employees, and federal and state funding cuts. That has made it difficult for OUSD to regain its financial footing after taking a $100 million loan from the state in 2003 in exchange for control over its operations, but it was on the right track, said school board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the district’s finance committee.[aside postID=news_12042255 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Now, he believes new board leadership is driving the district back into financial jeopardy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just been a series of actions and inactions that have led us to this point,” Hutchinson said. “We were always trying to thread the needle, and with this series of actions, it’s taken all of that leeway away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson, who was among the board members opposed to merging schools in December, pointed to a series of 4–3 votes over the last nine months. He places much of the blame for the board’s shortcomings on President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor, who were elected board leaders in a 4–3 vote in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, that same voting bloc — which is backed by the teachers union, has been aligned on several votes that have gone against district staff and affected OUSD’s financial situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, they made changes to the district’s budget balancing plan that ended up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">causing upheaval to after-school programs\u003c/a> and could have cut about a third of the district’s spending on third-party services and contracts. Those union-backed “alternative budget balancing solutions,” which Brouhard said aimed to restore classroom personnel cuts, were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">ultimately rescinded\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same four board members in April approved a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, who was contracted to remain with OUSD until 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038081\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District teachers, parents and students rally outside of Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11, 2023, during a teacher strike in the district. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The longtime leader had been credited with much of the district’s financial recovery since taking over in 2017, but often sparred with the teachers union. Her early departure led to questions about whether the board \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035005/oakland-school-board-may-replace-superintendent-despite-contract-extension\">pushed her out.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, the union-backed board majority approved a $2.5 million agreement to restore teaching roles that were initially proposed to be cut this fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038078/oakland-teachers-set-strike-this-week-union-tells-school-district\">narrowly avoiding a labor strike\u003c/a>. At the time, it did not make any additional cuts to offset the expense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard, Bachelor and board members Rachel Latta and VanCedric Williams, who approved those moves, did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a separate letter last week, conditionally approving OUSD’s 2025–26 budget, Castro gave the board a deadline of Oct. 8 to direct district staff on how to make mid-year budget reductions to rebalance spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056738\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056738\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified students and parents make signs to support teachers at a ‘solidarity school’ in Diamond Park, Oakland, on May 11, 2023, as the Oakland Unified School District teacher strike continues. Parents, teachers, and middle and high school students volunteer to watch students, providing lunch and activities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson believes the necessary cuts will be at least $10 million for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They would have to further cut currently planned expenses, though, to fulfill new wage demands from the Oakland Education Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teachers union, whose contract expired in June, sent the district a compensation proposal in August requesting a 9% retroactive raise from July, and an additional 5% increase next year, among other costly demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until our district prioritizes stability, every year our schools will lose incredible educators to other districts with better pay and benefits,” said OEA president Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. “We know that districts that invest in their classroom staff see successful and supported students as a result, and we need to see OUSD do the same.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said the district hasn’t set aside any money for increased wages and will have to make dollar-for-dollar cuts to raise them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If our teachers union wants a $20 million package for this year, we will have to make $20 million in spending cuts for this year in order to do that,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said board leadership has yet to schedule a meeting to discuss the necessary cuts. If they fail to act, he said, it might be best for the county to step back in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20: A previous version of this story misattributed a statement to Jessica Beard, communications organizer for the California Teachers Association. It has been corrected to attribute the statement to Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, president of the Oakland Education Association, a workforce services specialist. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Oakland Unified School District is spending beyond its means and will need to propose major budget revisions in the next month to avoid running out of funds during this school year.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:30 p.m., Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> only just regained local control this summer after a state bailout two decades ago, and already top officials are warning that it is spending past its means and quickly falling back into perilous financial territory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the Oakland school board last week, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro warned that it will need to propose major budget revisions in the next month to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043062/as-ousd-gets-closer-to-controlling-its-finances-new-budget-challenges-loom\">avoid running out of funds\u003c/a> during this academic year, risking insolvency for the second time in recent memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland Unified School District enters Fiscal Year 2025–26 under full local control for the first time in a generation; however, the same fiscal and decision-making issues that have plagued the district for many years remain,” Castro wrote in her annual report of the district’s finances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter detailed a series of moves by the school board over the last year that have pushed the district toward disarray: first failing to take action on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">a plan to merge schools\u003c/a> in December to save about $3 million annually, and later continuing to renege on its own service and personnel cuts meant to close a $95 million budget deficit for the 2025–26 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, district budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson wrote in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ousd.org/communications-public-affairs/newsroom/news/~board/ousd-news/post/the-closing-of-the-books-for-the-2024-25-budget-continues-the-sobering-financial-news-for-the-district\">separate letter to families\u003c/a> that OUSD’s expenses have been outpacing revenue by about $4 million a month for nearly a year. The district’s budget reserve has shrunk by 53% in the last year, dwindling from $118 million to just $55.8 million, according to newly updated financial information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-2_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson said that reserve will shrink further this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spending plan passed in June already violated OUSD’s policy to maintain reserves of at least 3% of its budget for unexpected expenses. Based on the updated numbers, Grant-Dawson said the district will not only spend the small $374,000 cushion it did preserve but also dip below the state’s lower 2% reserve requirement, risking financial insolvency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like districts across the state, Oakland is struggling with declining enrollment, rising costs for services and employees, and federal and state funding cuts. That has made it difficult for OUSD to regain its financial footing after taking a $100 million loan from the state in 2003 in exchange for control over its operations, but it was on the right track, said school board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the district’s finance committee.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, he believes new board leadership is driving the district back into financial jeopardy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just been a series of actions and inactions that have led us to this point,” Hutchinson said. “We were always trying to thread the needle, and with this series of actions, it’s taken all of that leeway away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson, who was among the board members opposed to merging schools in December, pointed to a series of 4–3 votes over the last nine months. He places much of the blame for the board’s shortcomings on President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor, who were elected board leaders in a 4–3 vote in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, that same voting bloc — which is backed by the teachers union, has been aligned on several votes that have gone against district staff and affected OUSD’s financial situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, they made changes to the district’s budget balancing plan that ended up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">causing upheaval to after-school programs\u003c/a> and could have cut about a third of the district’s spending on third-party services and contracts. Those union-backed “alternative budget balancing solutions,” which Brouhard said aimed to restore classroom personnel cuts, were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">ultimately rescinded\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same four board members in April approved a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, who was contracted to remain with OUSD until 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038081\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/021_KQED_OUSDTeacherStrike_05112023_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District teachers, parents and students rally outside of Glenview Elementary in Oakland on May 11, 2023, during a teacher strike in the district. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The longtime leader had been credited with much of the district’s financial recovery since taking over in 2017, but often sparred with the teachers union. Her early departure led to questions about whether the board \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035005/oakland-school-board-may-replace-superintendent-despite-contract-extension\">pushed her out.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, the union-backed board majority approved a $2.5 million agreement to restore teaching roles that were initially proposed to be cut this fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038078/oakland-teachers-set-strike-this-week-union-tells-school-district\">narrowly avoiding a labor strike\u003c/a>. At the time, it did not make any additional cuts to offset the expense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brouhard, Bachelor and board members Rachel Latta and VanCedric Williams, who approved those moves, did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a separate letter last week, conditionally approving OUSD’s 2025–26 budget, Castro gave the board a deadline of Oct. 8 to direct district staff on how to make mid-year budget reductions to rebalance spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056738\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056738\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/007_KQED_OUSDSolidaritySchool_05112023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified students and parents make signs to support teachers at a ‘solidarity school’ in Diamond Park, Oakland, on May 11, 2023, as the Oakland Unified School District teacher strike continues. Parents, teachers, and middle and high school students volunteer to watch students, providing lunch and activities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson believes the necessary cuts will be at least $10 million for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They would have to further cut currently planned expenses, though, to fulfill new wage demands from the Oakland Education Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teachers union, whose contract expired in June, sent the district a compensation proposal in August requesting a 9% retroactive raise from July, and an additional 5% increase next year, among other costly demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until our district prioritizes stability, every year our schools will lose incredible educators to other districts with better pay and benefits,” said OEA president Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. “We know that districts that invest in their classroom staff see successful and supported students as a result, and we need to see OUSD do the same.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said the district hasn’t set aside any money for increased wages and will have to make dollar-for-dollar cuts to raise them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If our teachers union wants a $20 million package for this year, we will have to make $20 million in spending cuts for this year in order to do that,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said board leadership has yet to schedule a meeting to discuss the necessary cuts. If they fail to act, he said, it might be best for the county to step back in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 20: A previous version of this story misattributed a statement to Jessica Beard, communications organizer for the California Teachers Association. It has been corrected to attribute the statement to Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, president of the Oakland Education Association, a workforce services specialist. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>As the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland School Unified District\u003c/a> celebrates its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037097/oakland-schools-poised-part-ways-with-superintendent-state-oversight-ends\">projected departure from state oversight\u003c/a> this summer, the district’s chief budget officer has warned that the district could be at risk of slipping back into receivership if it doesn’t make major spending changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Grant-Dawson told the school board on Wednesday that the district could dip below its state-mandated reserve funding by 2027 as it looks to spend more than it brings in this year, and over the next two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes after five years of OUSD building up that rainy day fund, and as the district prepares to make its final loan payment to the state, more than 20 years after declaring bankruptcy this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have taken a step backward in our efforts to secure the long-term future of the district,” Grant-Dawson wrote in a letter to the district on Thursday. “We will begin 2025–26 with $57 million in reserves while continuing to run a deficit that is unaddressed in a multi-year fashion … This continues the ill-advised practice of our district using the beginning fund balance to balance the budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, during the final financial report of the school year, Grant-Dawson told the board that the district’s projected budget deficit for the current school year had shrunk from $95 million to $60 million — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">“much better position” than six months ago\u003c/a>, but not good enough to avoid spending a significant portion of its $117 million reserve fund on the shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Offices in Oakland on April 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the next two years, OUSD could spend nearly $40 million more than it brings in, without factoring in cuts to federal funding, which Grant-Dawson said are coming. That would leave the district with less than $18 million in its reserve, well below the state-mandated 3% fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that level, “there’s no way we can pay one month’s payroll with the reserve,” Grant-Dawson told the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that the district needs to reconsider its approach to its adult education program, which is running a $300,000 deficit this year, and put school consolidations back on the table. After opening 40 campuses in the early 2000s during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726682/why-does-oakland-have-so-many-small-schools.\">small school movement\u003c/a>, OUSD has nearly doubled the number of campuses in similarly sized districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, plans to merge or close schools have generally been unsuccessful and generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905982/how-dare-you-oakland-school-closure-decision-inspires-new-opposition-efforts\">significant pushback\u003c/a> from the community, leading to protests and even a hunger strike.[aside postID=news_12041941 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_4393-1020x765.jpg']Whether the board is willing to make big cost reductions that Grant-Dawson said are necessary to keep OUSD in the black will begin to come to light next week, when she presents a draft budget for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That spending plan will likely reflect a list of significant cuts, including reductions of school site substitute teaching positions and campus discretionary funding, and centralizing contracts, both with service manufacturers — like those that provide copiers — and community agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school board gave budget staff permission to make those changes in December, but they could still face challenges after multiple members — and the teachers’ union, which has the support of the board majority —have raised concerns about some of the potential cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this spring, a majority passed an additional budget bill proposed by Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor that put caps on outside contracts, travel costs and other spending with the intention to use any savings to restore some of the student services that could be axed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those budget \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">amendments were rescinded\u003c/a> after a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">ccidentally reducing grant-funded after-school programs\u003c/a>, which rely on outside contracts, but Brouhard has still vowed to pass a budget that keeps cuts away from kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully intend to keep developing a student-centered budget and will actively engage with staff, students, labor partners, families, and community members to accomplish this,” she said in a statement in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board has to approve a spending plan for the 2025–26 school year by July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland School Unified District\u003c/a> celebrates its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037097/oakland-schools-poised-part-ways-with-superintendent-state-oversight-ends\">projected departure from state oversight\u003c/a> this summer, the district’s chief budget officer has warned that the district could be at risk of slipping back into receivership if it doesn’t make major spending changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Grant-Dawson told the school board on Wednesday that the district could dip below its state-mandated reserve funding by 2027 as it looks to spend more than it brings in this year, and over the next two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes after five years of OUSD building up that rainy day fund, and as the district prepares to make its final loan payment to the state, more than 20 years after declaring bankruptcy this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have taken a step backward in our efforts to secure the long-term future of the district,” Grant-Dawson wrote in a letter to the district on Thursday. “We will begin 2025–26 with $57 million in reserves while continuing to run a deficit that is unaddressed in a multi-year fashion … This continues the ill-advised practice of our district using the beginning fund balance to balance the budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, during the final financial report of the school year, Grant-Dawson told the board that the district’s projected budget deficit for the current school year had shrunk from $95 million to $60 million — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">“much better position” than six months ago\u003c/a>, but not good enough to avoid spending a significant portion of its $117 million reserve fund on the shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250428-OUSD-OFFICE-FILE-MD-04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Unified School District Offices in Oakland on April 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the next two years, OUSD could spend nearly $40 million more than it brings in, without factoring in cuts to federal funding, which Grant-Dawson said are coming. That would leave the district with less than $18 million in its reserve, well below the state-mandated 3% fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that level, “there’s no way we can pay one month’s payroll with the reserve,” Grant-Dawson told the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that the district needs to reconsider its approach to its adult education program, which is running a $300,000 deficit this year, and put school consolidations back on the table. After opening 40 campuses in the early 2000s during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726682/why-does-oakland-have-so-many-small-schools.\">small school movement\u003c/a>, OUSD has nearly doubled the number of campuses in similarly sized districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, plans to merge or close schools have generally been unsuccessful and generated \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905982/how-dare-you-oakland-school-closure-decision-inspires-new-opposition-efforts\">significant pushback\u003c/a> from the community, leading to protests and even a hunger strike.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Whether the board is willing to make big cost reductions that Grant-Dawson said are necessary to keep OUSD in the black will begin to come to light next week, when she presents a draft budget for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That spending plan will likely reflect a list of significant cuts, including reductions of school site substitute teaching positions and campus discretionary funding, and centralizing contracts, both with service manufacturers — like those that provide copiers — and community agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school board gave budget staff permission to make those changes in December, but they could still face challenges after multiple members — and the teachers’ union, which has the support of the board majority —have raised concerns about some of the potential cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this spring, a majority passed an additional budget bill proposed by Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor that put caps on outside contracts, travel costs and other spending with the intention to use any savings to restore some of the student services that could be axed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those budget \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">amendments were rescinded\u003c/a> after a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040189/ousd-after-school-programs-could-be-cut-by-at-least-50\">ccidentally reducing grant-funded after-school programs\u003c/a>, which rely on outside contracts, but Brouhard has still vowed to pass a budget that keeps cuts away from kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully intend to keep developing a student-centered budget and will actively engage with staff, students, labor partners, families, and community members to accomplish this,” she said in a statement in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board has to approve a spending plan for the 2025–26 school year by July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> has selected an interim superintendent with decades of experience leading the city’s schools — and managing its crises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denise Saddler will \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041941/in-farewell-address-ousd-superintendent-says-district-must-make-hard-choices\">replace longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a> in July, ahead of the 2025–26 school year, the district announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler has worn many hats during her decades at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a>, from teaching to leading as a principal to working as an area superintendent in the district’s central office. She also served as the president of the Oakland Education Association, the district’s teachers union, for six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One constant throughout her career, according to former school board President Sam Davis, is putting out fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s very used to these interim crisis roles,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler headed Sankofa Academy during its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11721070/oakland-unified-announces-plans-to-merge-kaiser-and-sankofa-elementary-schools-as-part-of-major-downsizing-effort\">merger with Kaiser Elementary School\u003c/a> in 2019, and has most recently been on a contract as a “turnaround school interim principal” and principal coach at OUSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to her \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-gail-saddler-edd-54998214/details/experience/\">LinkedIn profile\u003c/a>, Saddler has “stabilized school climates across multiple sites by restructuring leadership teams and driving instructional turnaround” in her contract role.[aside postID=news_12041941 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/IMG_4393-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2010s, Saddler was part of the team that oversaw OUSD school closures and mergers. She “spearheaded the successful closure and transition of 5 schools, coordinating the reassignment of over 800 students and redeployment of staff, ensuring educational continuity and minimizing disruption,” according to her LinkedIn account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dr. Saddler is a veteran Bay Area educator with more than 40 years of service,” the district said in a statement Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes just a day after Johnson-Trammell made her first public statements since announcing she would leave the district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">a year before her contract was set to expire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson-Trammell, who’s been credited with OUSD’s recovery and stabilization after bankruptcy and fiscal crisis, signed a separation agreement with the school board in April amid ideological disagreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to be aligned in terms of what it takes to continue to sustain financial stability, to get the [improved] academic outcomes that I talked about in detail, so if we’re not on the same page, then it’s time to respectfully part ways,” Johnson-Trammell said when asked about her premature departure Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037466\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037466\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders, rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>OUSD is set to exit state receivership in June, more than 20 years after it was bailed out of bankruptcy by the state in 2003. That will mark the end of increased state and county oversight in the district’s decision-making, as long as it is able to keep its finances in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler’s crisis management skills are more than likely to come in handy to handle fallout from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029333/oaklands-school-board-long-been-disarray-is-it-turning-corner\">interpersonal tensions\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">botched budget policies\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">financial risks\u003c/a> that have plagued OUSD in the first six months of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s principals and teachers have been in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039972/oakland-schools-hostility-spirals-between-teachers-union-principals\">escalating conflict\u003c/a>, and the school board has received stern warnings from district and county education officials to rein in spending over the next few years to stay solvent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to spokesperson John Sasaki, the board is finalizing contract terms with Saddler and will formally approve her employment agreement at an upcoming meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thank our community for its continued engagement throughout this process and look forward to officially welcoming Dr. Saddler once the contract is finalized,” he said in a statement. “Together, we remain committed to providing every OUSD student with the thriving schools they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Denise Saddler will replace longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell in July, ahead of the 2025–26 school year, the district announced Friday.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> has selected an interim superintendent with decades of experience leading the city’s schools — and managing its crises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denise Saddler will \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041941/in-farewell-address-ousd-superintendent-says-district-must-make-hard-choices\">replace longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a> in July, ahead of the 2025–26 school year, the district announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler has worn many hats during her decades at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a>, from teaching to leading as a principal to working as an area superintendent in the district’s central office. She also served as the president of the Oakland Education Association, the district’s teachers union, for six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One constant throughout her career, according to former school board President Sam Davis, is putting out fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s very used to these interim crisis roles,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler headed Sankofa Academy during its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11721070/oakland-unified-announces-plans-to-merge-kaiser-and-sankofa-elementary-schools-as-part-of-major-downsizing-effort\">merger with Kaiser Elementary School\u003c/a> in 2019, and has most recently been on a contract as a “turnaround school interim principal” and principal coach at OUSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to her \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-gail-saddler-edd-54998214/details/experience/\">LinkedIn profile\u003c/a>, Saddler has “stabilized school climates across multiple sites by restructuring leadership teams and driving instructional turnaround” in her contract role.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2010s, Saddler was part of the team that oversaw OUSD school closures and mergers. She “spearheaded the successful closure and transition of 5 schools, coordinating the reassignment of over 800 students and redeployment of staff, ensuring educational continuity and minimizing disruption,” according to her LinkedIn account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dr. Saddler is a veteran Bay Area educator with more than 40 years of service,” the district said in a statement Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes just a day after Johnson-Trammell made her first public statements since announcing she would leave the district \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">a year before her contract was set to expire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson-Trammell, who’s been credited with OUSD’s recovery and stabilization after bankruptcy and fiscal crisis, signed a separation agreement with the school board in April amid ideological disagreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to be aligned in terms of what it takes to continue to sustain financial stability, to get the [improved] academic outcomes that I talked about in detail, so if we’re not on the same page, then it’s time to respectfully part ways,” Johnson-Trammell said when asked about her premature departure Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037466\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037466\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-1_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District parents, students and community leaders, rally in support of improved schools, ahead of an OUSD board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>OUSD is set to exit state receivership in June, more than 20 years after it was bailed out of bankruptcy by the state in 2003. That will mark the end of increased state and county oversight in the district’s decision-making, as long as it is able to keep its finances in check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saddler’s crisis management skills are more than likely to come in handy to handle fallout from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029333/oaklands-school-board-long-been-disarray-is-it-turning-corner\">interpersonal tensions\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041279/ousd-cancels-controversial-after-school-cuts-but-deep-divisions-within-school-board-remain\">botched budget policies\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">financial risks\u003c/a> that have plagued OUSD in the first six months of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s principals and teachers have been in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039972/oakland-schools-hostility-spirals-between-teachers-union-principals\">escalating conflict\u003c/a>, and the school board has received stern warnings from district and county education officials to rein in spending over the next few years to stay solvent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to spokesperson John Sasaki, the board is finalizing contract terms with Saddler and will formally approve her employment agreement at an upcoming meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thank our community for its continued engagement throughout this process and look forward to officially welcoming Dr. Saddler once the contract is finalized,” he said in a statement. “Together, we remain committed to providing every OUSD student with the thriving schools they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In Farewell Address, OUSD Superintendent Says District Must Make Hard Choices",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oakland’s outgoing superintendent of schools has a message for the district: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037097/oakland-schools-poised-part-ways-with-superintendent-state-oversight-ends\">Don’t go backward\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kyla Johnson-Trammell, who announced last month that she would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">make an early exit from the district\u003c/a> this summer amid tension with the school board majority, recounted the progress \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> has made since she took the helm in 2017 — walking it back from the edge of a fiscal cliff and out of 20 years of state oversight since it went bankrupt in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since 2017, our overall graduation rate has climbed from 70.7% to 79.5%,” she said at her final press conference on Thursday. “Our A-to-G college completion rate has risen by 14% … our overall attendance is now 92% — up 1.6% — and chronic absenteeism is down 7.7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These aren’t just numbers. They reflect real lives,” Johnson-Trammell continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The improvements should be cause for celebration, but low test scores, literacy and numeracy rates and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">financial stress\u003c/a> still sandbag OUSD. There’s a real possibility that whoever steps into Johnson-Trammell’s shoes won’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">close and merge schools\u003c/a> — the one thing she is steadfast on that the district must do to maintain stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have absolutely no reason to be in fiscal crisis ever again, and part of making sure that that’s possible is we have to reduce the number of schools,” Johnson-Trammell said to a gaggle of reporters, former school board members and OUSD staff. “Do we need to make sure we’re not putting undue harm on Black and Brown and immigrant families? Yes. But keeping things the way they are hurting those communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question remains whether anyone with sway in the district will mount that fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families, for the most part, have always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014397/parents-teachers-say-oakland-school-mergers-could-hurt-students-in-the-flatlands\">against school closures\u003c/a>. Whether district staff that’s been key to previous efforts to reduce the number of campuses, like business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson, will remain after Johnson-Trammell leaves is unknown. Oakland’s teachers union is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11912597/oakland-teachers-strike-in-1-day-action-over-districts-plan-to-close-schools\">staunchly opposed\u003c/a> to closing schools — as is the school board majority, which is backed by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will that board select a superintendent who is willing to consider closures?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12041279 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/240520-TKBilingualLearners-03-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think so,” former board member and Superintendent Gary Yee told KQED. “But I think that that’s going to surface as an important discussion for the community to make in terms of the composition of a school board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland has a touchy history with the debate over its school district’s footprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just three years ago, the school board passed a proposal to close, merge or reduce classes at 11 sites. The plan was met with outrage, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11915396/we-have-power-oakland-activists-camp-out-in-school-to-stop-its-closure\">protest\u003c/a> and even a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/02/18/oakland-educators-poised-to-end-hunger-strike-over-school-closures/\">hunger strike\u003c/a>, as parents and community members said it disproportionately impacted campuses with predominantly Black and Brown student bodies. It was reversed by the board the following year, before it took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A more modest plan to merge 10 schools co-located on five campuses last fall also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">stalled without board support\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD operates 77 school sites — more than other similar-sized districts, and more than the 46 that an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011731/oakland-school-closures-are-back-on-the-table-less-than-2-years-after-plan-was-axed\">efficiency analysis suggested it should\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Oakland opened 40 new campuses under the community school movement. But around the same time, OUSD enrollment began to decline in line with many California districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For at least the past five years, OUSD’s leadership has been saying that the district’s number of schools needs to be realigned with its student body to improve student outcomes, maximize resources and curb some overspending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You see it when parents are coming to school board meetings talking about the low literacy rates, the low numeracy rates,” Johnson-Trammell said. “You see it with how parents are voting with their feet … People are leaving Oakland. We’ve got to adjust. We have to evolve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unlikely leader who seems ready for the conversation is board member Mike Hutchinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He led the effort to rescind school closures in 2023 just hours after being sworn in as board president. But he told KQED on Thursday that as the district leaves state receivership this summer, it is time to have a “community conversation about how our school district will look going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can make it an add-on, not a loss,” he said. “It can become an exciting conversation [about how to best utilize district resources], whereas for 20 years, it has been imposed on us,” referring to state receivership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School board members — all of whom, besides Hutchinson, were absent for Johnson-Trammell’s remarks — began interviewing candidates for an interim superintendent to take over on July 1 during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday night. They plan to continue on Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current and former district leaders KQED spoke with on Thursday said that they hope to see more transparency and community involvement in that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oakland’s outgoing superintendent of schools has a message for the district: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037097/oakland-schools-poised-part-ways-with-superintendent-state-oversight-ends\">Don’t go backward\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kyla Johnson-Trammell, who announced last month that she would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">make an early exit from the district\u003c/a> this summer amid tension with the school board majority, recounted the progress \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-unified-school-district\">Oakland Unified School District\u003c/a> has made since she took the helm in 2017 — walking it back from the edge of a fiscal cliff and out of 20 years of state oversight since it went bankrupt in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since 2017, our overall graduation rate has climbed from 70.7% to 79.5%,” she said at her final press conference on Thursday. “Our A-to-G college completion rate has risen by 14% … our overall attendance is now 92% — up 1.6% — and chronic absenteeism is down 7.7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These aren’t just numbers. They reflect real lives,” Johnson-Trammell continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The improvements should be cause for celebration, but low test scores, literacy and numeracy rates and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023461/ousd-on-track-run-out-of-cash-after-avoiding-hard-decisions-scathing-letter-says\">financial stress\u003c/a> still sandbag OUSD. There’s a real possibility that whoever steps into Johnson-Trammell’s shoes won’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">close and merge schools\u003c/a> — the one thing she is steadfast on that the district must do to maintain stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have absolutely no reason to be in fiscal crisis ever again, and part of making sure that that’s possible is we have to reduce the number of schools,” Johnson-Trammell said to a gaggle of reporters, former school board members and OUSD staff. “Do we need to make sure we’re not putting undue harm on Black and Brown and immigrant families? Yes. But keeping things the way they are hurting those communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question remains whether anyone with sway in the district will mount that fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families, for the most part, have always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014397/parents-teachers-say-oakland-school-mergers-could-hurt-students-in-the-flatlands\">against school closures\u003c/a>. Whether district staff that’s been key to previous efforts to reduce the number of campuses, like business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson, will remain after Johnson-Trammell leaves is unknown. Oakland’s teachers union is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11912597/oakland-teachers-strike-in-1-day-action-over-districts-plan-to-close-schools\">staunchly opposed\u003c/a> to closing schools — as is the school board majority, which is backed by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will that board select a superintendent who is willing to consider closures?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think so,” former board member and Superintendent Gary Yee told KQED. “But I think that that’s going to surface as an important discussion for the community to make in terms of the composition of a school board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland has a touchy history with the debate over its school district’s footprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just three years ago, the school board passed a proposal to close, merge or reduce classes at 11 sites. The plan was met with outrage, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11915396/we-have-power-oakland-activists-camp-out-in-school-to-stop-its-closure\">protest\u003c/a> and even a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/02/18/oakland-educators-poised-to-end-hunger-strike-over-school-closures/\">hunger strike\u003c/a>, as parents and community members said it disproportionately impacted campuses with predominantly Black and Brown student bodies. It was reversed by the board the following year, before it took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A more modest plan to merge 10 schools co-located on five campuses last fall also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">stalled without board support\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OUSD operates 77 school sites — more than other similar-sized districts, and more than the 46 that an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011731/oakland-school-closures-are-back-on-the-table-less-than-2-years-after-plan-was-axed\">efficiency analysis suggested it should\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Oakland opened 40 new campuses under the community school movement. But around the same time, OUSD enrollment began to decline in line with many California districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For at least the past five years, OUSD’s leadership has been saying that the district’s number of schools needs to be realigned with its student body to improve student outcomes, maximize resources and curb some overspending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You see it when parents are coming to school board meetings talking about the low literacy rates, the low numeracy rates,” Johnson-Trammell said. “You see it with how parents are voting with their feet … People are leaving Oakland. We’ve got to adjust. We have to evolve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unlikely leader who seems ready for the conversation is board member Mike Hutchinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He led the effort to rescind school closures in 2023 just hours after being sworn in as board president. But he told KQED on Thursday that as the district leaves state receivership this summer, it is time to have a “community conversation about how our school district will look going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can make it an add-on, not a loss,” he said. “It can become an exciting conversation [about how to best utilize district resources], whereas for 20 years, it has been imposed on us,” referring to state receivership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School board members — all of whom, besides Hutchinson, were absent for Johnson-Trammell’s remarks — began interviewing candidates for an interim superintendent to take over on July 1 during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday night. They plan to continue on Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current and former district leaders KQED spoke with on Thursday said that they hope to see more transparency and community involvement in that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> voted Wednesday to cancel spending caps that would have cut after-school care by at least 50% next year. However, that funding will likely remain in limbo until the new fiscal year begins in July, adding uncertainty for the services’ providers, already wary of infighting in district leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment program, told KQED that his and other agencies were instructed Wednesday by the district’s head of expanded learning to plan for programs as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “If July becomes this really critical moment to figure everything out, I wouldn’t say that this board has demonstrated sufficient acumen to navigate what could be a very difficult process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m unclear within the central office who would be equipped to shepherd that through,” Brekke-Miesner continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has been a rollercoaster for the Oakland Unified School District. Board members are deeply divided and a majority voted last month on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, terminating her contract early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the controversy between board members began surrounding a set of budget proposals co-sponsored by Board President Jennifer Brouhard in March — one of which, referred to as alternative budget adjustments, put caps on contracts the district has with consultants and service providers, certain employee salaries and for books and supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Members of the district’s budget staff and board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the budget and finance committee, adamantly opposed the resolution at the time, saying it was rushed and could have unintended consequences. But the budget measures passed with a slim majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the resolution aimed to restrict spending on services and salaries that don’t directly serve students, the language used caused it to backfire, leading district staff to place caps on contracts with local nonprofits who provide enrichment and after care services in OUSD schools next fall, requiring at least 50% reductions in their services. In total, the resolution would have resulted in $29 million in budget cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After community outrage, the board held a special meeting on Wednesday where it debated for nearly three hours whether to slash the alternative budget adjustments, or add last-minute changes to the legislation it was discussing that would keep but delay the cuts. Those changes earned frank criticism from district staff.[aside postID=news_12039737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/OaklandSchoolChildren-1020x696.jpg']“If you don’t want this repeat cycle, we would have conferred and I would have been able to see this [amendment] prior to 30 minutes before the meeting,” budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “Please know that if you adopt this [amended] resolution, it still will have problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the board majority chose to repeal the resolution entirely, but the meeting further deepened the chasm between board members and with staff — and could threaten their collective goal to serve Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson told KQED after the meeting that even with the budget adjustments repealed, staff won’t have time to reinstate the funding to schools until after the budget process is completed at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re too far into budget development to take off the [caps] and then rebalance and still be ready for the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” she said. “We’re literally weeks away from our public hearing as well as the adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has created a whole different degree of consternation of us having to adjust all these budgets. It took me almost a month to figure out what was the most equitable way to do it, because we’re not talking about five lines of data, we are talking about thousands of lines of data to change,” Grant-Dawson continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the plan is to lift the spending limits once the budget process wraps up at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lukas Brekke-Miesner, executive director of Oakland Kids First, which helped launch youth voting in Oakland in 2019, at Willard Park in Berkeley on Feb. 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Brekke-Miesner, stalling that technical change won’t financially impact his program, but it does extend his and other aftercare program providers’ uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a lot of confusion, and a delay like this basically means that agencies are going into summer not knowing if everything is going to be remediated and restored,” Brekke-Miesner said. “That means that they could then have to lay off staff in July or August, or tell families in July or August that, ‘Actually, your kid doesn’t have aftercare next year,’ when the ship has sailed on any other alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is expected that when Johnson-Trammell departs the district at the end of June, other executive staff, including Grant-Dawson, could leave with her. Grant-Dawson was previously set to depart OUSD in alignment with Johnson-Trammell’s transition out in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An application was also opened for an interim superintendent earlier this month, but no one has been named to take over in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brekke-Miesner said that while questions of who will be district leadership are a concern, ultimately, his main worry is with the school board’s inability to get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of discourse and derision and disrespect is just so constant and high level that I think it thwarts the ability to really effectively try to solve some really complicated problems,” he told KQED. “I think collectively, the board has to kind of have a ‘Come to Jesus moment’ because it’s going to require a lot more cooperation and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> voted Wednesday to cancel spending caps that would have cut after-school care by at least 50% next year. However, that funding will likely remain in limbo until the new fiscal year begins in July, adding uncertainty for the services’ providers, already wary of infighting in district leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment program, told KQED that his and other agencies were instructed Wednesday by the district’s head of expanded learning to plan for programs as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “If July becomes this really critical moment to figure everything out, I wouldn’t say that this board has demonstrated sufficient acumen to navigate what could be a very difficult process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m unclear within the central office who would be equipped to shepherd that through,” Brekke-Miesner continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has been a rollercoaster for the Oakland Unified School District. Board members are deeply divided and a majority voted last month on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, terminating her contract early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the controversy between board members began surrounding a set of budget proposals co-sponsored by Board President Jennifer Brouhard in March — one of which, referred to as alternative budget adjustments, put caps on contracts the district has with consultants and service providers, certain employee salaries and for books and supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Members of the district’s budget staff and board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the budget and finance committee, adamantly opposed the resolution at the time, saying it was rushed and could have unintended consequences. But the budget measures passed with a slim majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the resolution aimed to restrict spending on services and salaries that don’t directly serve students, the language used caused it to backfire, leading district staff to place caps on contracts with local nonprofits who provide enrichment and after care services in OUSD schools next fall, requiring at least 50% reductions in their services. In total, the resolution would have resulted in $29 million in budget cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After community outrage, the board held a special meeting on Wednesday where it debated for nearly three hours whether to slash the alternative budget adjustments, or add last-minute changes to the legislation it was discussing that would keep but delay the cuts. Those changes earned frank criticism from district staff.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If you don’t want this repeat cycle, we would have conferred and I would have been able to see this [amendment] prior to 30 minutes before the meeting,” budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “Please know that if you adopt this [amended] resolution, it still will have problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the board majority chose to repeal the resolution entirely, but the meeting further deepened the chasm between board members and with staff — and could threaten their collective goal to serve Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson told KQED after the meeting that even with the budget adjustments repealed, staff won’t have time to reinstate the funding to schools until after the budget process is completed at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re too far into budget development to take off the [caps] and then rebalance and still be ready for the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” she said. “We’re literally weeks away from our public hearing as well as the adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has created a whole different degree of consternation of us having to adjust all these budgets. It took me almost a month to figure out what was the most equitable way to do it, because we’re not talking about five lines of data, we are talking about thousands of lines of data to change,” Grant-Dawson continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the plan is to lift the spending limits once the budget process wraps up at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lukas Brekke-Miesner, executive director of Oakland Kids First, which helped launch youth voting in Oakland in 2019, at Willard Park in Berkeley on Feb. 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Brekke-Miesner, stalling that technical change won’t financially impact his program, but it does extend his and other aftercare program providers’ uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a lot of confusion, and a delay like this basically means that agencies are going into summer not knowing if everything is going to be remediated and restored,” Brekke-Miesner said. “That means that they could then have to lay off staff in July or August, or tell families in July or August that, ‘Actually, your kid doesn’t have aftercare next year,’ when the ship has sailed on any other alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is expected that when Johnson-Trammell departs the district at the end of June, other executive staff, including Grant-Dawson, could leave with her. Grant-Dawson was previously set to depart OUSD in alignment with Johnson-Trammell’s transition out in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An application was also opened for an interim superintendent earlier this month, but no one has been named to take over in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brekke-Miesner said that while questions of who will be district leadership are a concern, ultimately, his main worry is with the school board’s inability to get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of discourse and derision and disrespect is just so constant and high level that I think it thwarts the ability to really effectively try to solve some really complicated problems,” he told KQED. “I think collectively, the board has to kind of have a ‘Come to Jesus moment’ because it’s going to require a lot more cooperation and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated at 3:24 pm Thursday \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s schools might not be able to offer at least half of their after-school programs next year after a set of budget solutions meant to keep cuts away from students appears to have backfired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School Board President Jennifer Brouhard said Wednesday that it was shocking to see the proposal to cut funding for aftercare, but emails show that the board was warned by its fiscal adviser more than a month ago that the resolution could endanger the programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Merely adding the Expanded Learning Opportunity Program and After School Education and Safety grants to the list of unavoidable expenses, the cap is exceeded,” the letter from fiscal adviser Luz Cázares on April 8 said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cázares sent the letter warning that the programs would be at risk after she lifted a stay on a board resolution capping spending on the district’s outside contracts, among other expenses, earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, local organizations that facilitate campuses’ after-school care and enrichment programs said they were informed that 50%-80% funding cuts could now leave at least 3,000 students without somewhere to go after class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During an Oakland Unified School District board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“These cuts would displace more than half of all students currently served by OUSD after-school programs, eliminating a critical support system for families, violating core requirements of state and federal education grants, and the legal mandate to provide after-school services,” the groups said in a joint letter addressed to board members asking them to rescind the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029001/oakland-school-board-approves-over-100-layoffs-a-day-after-similar-vote-in-sf\">amid approvals for layoffs\u003c/a> and bickering between board members, a slim majority voted to approve a set of “alternative budget solutions” brought forward by Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five-item list capped spending on outside contracts, books and supplies and some employee salaries, along with cutting travel spending. It served as a supplement to a larger package of budget-balancing solutions the board approved in December to patch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">$95 million deficit\u003c/a>. That deficit has since shrunk to $70 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12039972 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/DSC06624_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Brouhard said that she stands by the spirit of the proposal, which aimed to “reduce consultant and contract spending and ensure every dollar directly supports students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She blamed the district’s staff for the way it interpreted the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was angry to see after-school programs and field trips cut — programs essential to student learning, safety and well-being,” she said. “These cuts deeply harmed students. This was never our intent, and district leadership knew that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, chief business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson said in an email to Brouhard that she was told prior to voting on the resolution, and again in April, about the “massive changes” it would mean, including to after-school program funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cuts were intended to reallocate some funding back to campuses that were facing budget cuts, Brouhard said at the time. But the district’s plan to slash after-school spending won’t free up any money that’s usable elsewhere, according to the nonprofits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All OUSD funding for after-school comes from the state and federal government and can only be used during out-of-school hours,” the nonprofits’ letter to the board said. “The funding reductions will result in OUSD returning funds it otherwise could have spent on students and staff, and it will lose tens of millions of dollars now and into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment, said these programs are a lifeline for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I work full time, my partner works full time, and my kids have a safe place to be and someone who they really love looking after them,” he said. “A lot of families — working class, low income, et cetera — just don’t have the necessary support systems to function any other way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said these programs often provide food, homework help and, for younger kids, fun activities like crafts or arts performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the high school level, Oakland Kids First has “leadership development and enrichment programs, we have on-campus and off-campus internships, we run a one-acre farm on campus that young folks also work on” at Castlemont, Brekke-Miesner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These programs keep them safe and engaged in their communities — a tall order for many teenagers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12039737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/OaklandSchoolChildren-1020x696.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oftentimes, there’s a certain distance that young people feel, a certain frustration, …and having caring adult allies that are able to connect with them and do programs that are in alignment with their interests — those are things that are pretty unique to after-school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drastically reducing after-school services could also threaten the district’s compliance with state law and decrease student attendance, the nonprofit partners’ letter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board members Mike Hutchinson and Clifford Thompson, both of whom opposed the alternative budget solutions proposal, plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would rescind it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said on social media that the policy sent “shockwaves” through the district last week, when schools found out about the total of $29 million of frozen funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the district he represents, schools have between $100,000 and $200,000 cut from their budgets. Separately, the district is considering centralizing some services and reducing school site funding allocations to reduce spending next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danielle Davis, the principal of McClymonds High School, wrote on Facebook that her campus was losing funding for college advisers and mentorship and summer internship stipends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Brekke-Miesner believes the school board members’ proposal was well-intentioned, he said they should be deliberate about what its impact will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Electeds need to be really wary of running afoul of families in this district and voters in this district,” he said. “Ultimately, we have to make decisions in this district that are oriented towards our students and our families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated at 3:24 pm Thursday \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s schools might not be able to offer at least half of their after-school programs next year after a set of budget solutions meant to keep cuts away from students appears to have backfired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School Board President Jennifer Brouhard said Wednesday that it was shocking to see the proposal to cut funding for aftercare, but emails show that the board was warned by its fiscal adviser more than a month ago that the resolution could endanger the programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Merely adding the Expanded Learning Opportunity Program and After School Education and Safety grants to the list of unavoidable expenses, the cap is exceeded,” the letter from fiscal adviser Luz Cázares on April 8 said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cázares sent the letter warning that the programs would be at risk after she lifted a stay on a board resolution capping spending on the district’s outside contracts, among other expenses, earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, local organizations that facilitate campuses’ after-school care and enrichment programs said they were informed that 50%-80% funding cuts could now leave at least 3,000 students without somewhere to go after class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-6_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During an Oakland Unified School District board meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“These cuts would displace more than half of all students currently served by OUSD after-school programs, eliminating a critical support system for families, violating core requirements of state and federal education grants, and the legal mandate to provide after-school services,” the groups said in a joint letter addressed to board members asking them to rescind the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029001/oakland-school-board-approves-over-100-layoffs-a-day-after-similar-vote-in-sf\">amid approvals for layoffs\u003c/a> and bickering between board members, a slim majority voted to approve a set of “alternative budget solutions” brought forward by Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Vice President Valarie Bachelor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The five-item list capped spending on outside contracts, books and supplies and some employee salaries, along with cutting travel spending. It served as a supplement to a larger package of budget-balancing solutions the board approved in December to patch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017719/oaklands-school-merger-plan-stalled-districts-huge-deficit-remains\">$95 million deficit\u003c/a>. That deficit has since shrunk to $70 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Brouhard said that she stands by the spirit of the proposal, which aimed to “reduce consultant and contract spending and ensure every dollar directly supports students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She blamed the district’s staff for the way it interpreted the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was angry to see after-school programs and field trips cut — programs essential to student learning, safety and well-being,” she said. “These cuts deeply harmed students. This was never our intent, and district leadership knew that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, chief business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson said in an email to Brouhard that she was told prior to voting on the resolution, and again in April, about the “massive changes” it would mean, including to after-school program funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cuts were intended to reallocate some funding back to campuses that were facing budget cuts, Brouhard said at the time. But the district’s plan to slash after-school spending won’t free up any money that’s usable elsewhere, according to the nonprofits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All OUSD funding for after-school comes from the state and federal government and can only be used during out-of-school hours,” the nonprofits’ letter to the board said. “The funding reductions will result in OUSD returning funds it otherwise could have spent on students and staff, and it will lose tens of millions of dollars now and into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment, said these programs are a lifeline for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I work full time, my partner works full time, and my kids have a safe place to be and someone who they really love looking after them,” he said. “A lot of families — working class, low income, et cetera — just don’t have the necessary support systems to function any other way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said these programs often provide food, homework help and, for younger kids, fun activities like crafts or arts performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the high school level, Oakland Kids First has “leadership development and enrichment programs, we have on-campus and off-campus internships, we run a one-acre farm on campus that young folks also work on” at Castlemont, Brekke-Miesner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These programs keep them safe and engaged in their communities — a tall order for many teenagers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oftentimes, there’s a certain distance that young people feel, a certain frustration, …and having caring adult allies that are able to connect with them and do programs that are in alignment with their interests — those are things that are pretty unique to after-school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drastically reducing after-school services could also threaten the district’s compliance with state law and decrease student attendance, the nonprofit partners’ letter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Board members Mike Hutchinson and Clifford Thompson, both of whom opposed the alternative budget solutions proposal, plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would rescind it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hutchinson said on social media that the policy sent “shockwaves” through the district last week, when schools found out about the total of $29 million of frozen funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the district he represents, schools have between $100,000 and $200,000 cut from their budgets. Separately, the district is considering centralizing some services and reducing school site funding allocations to reduce spending next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danielle Davis, the principal of McClymonds High School, wrote on Facebook that her campus was losing funding for college advisers and mentorship and summer internship stipends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Brekke-Miesner believes the school board members’ proposal was well-intentioned, he said they should be deliberate about what its impact will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Electeds need to be really wary of running afoul of families in this district and voters in this district,” he said. “Ultimately, we have to make decisions in this district that are oriented towards our students and our families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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