Bay Area

District Leaders Say Schools May Face $15-21 Million in Budget Cuts Next Year

Published

5 years ago

December 12, 2019

The Oakland Unified School District (OIUSD) has announced it may cut $15.5 million from its budget for the next school year, signifying there is no end in sight to proposed austerity measures including school closures that state officials have promised would lead eventually to a better day for Oakland students.

“In order to balance the budget for 2020-21, OUSD will have to change how it uses its resources. The (Multi-Year Projection) shows that OUSD needs to reduce expenses and/or increase revenue by at least $15.5 million for next year,” according to a public statement released this week, “First Interim Report: An Important Budget Update.”

Adding in further expenditures for other employee raises, new student laptop computers and a new central kitchen that has long been in the works “brings to approximately $21 million our estimate of how much OUSD needs to reduce expenses and/or increase revenue for 2020-21,” according to the statement.

The Oakland school board will discuss these budget proposals “no later than February,” according to the OUSD statement, and “the board will vote on the reductions soon thereafter.”

Though not mentioned in the district press release, these cuts are unfolding under the guidance of the state operating through the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT), the Alameda County Office of Education and a state-appointed trustee with veto power under the district’s financial decisions.

Enhanced state authority over the district’s operations, including pressures to close schools, was granted by AB 1840, which was passed last year with the backing of then Gov. Jerry Brown and Oakland’s representatives in the State Legislature. FCMAT itself was involved in the drafting of the legislation.

In its statement, the district blamed its continuing shortfalls on state school funding that does not keep up with the district’s growing expenses.

“While state funding continues to increase, the increases are modest at best and woefully insufficient given how fast our expenses are rising,” the statement said.

“The bottom line is that funding is increasing a little, but our necessary and imposed expenses are continuing to rise faster. In order to balance the budget, will have to–like every year–prioritize how we spend our resources,” according to the statement.

Major local expenses, according to the district, are employee pension costs, which are expected to increase by $3 million next year, as well as teacher and other employee wage increases that were negotiated as a result of the teachers’ strike in February, though “these raises were long overdue.”

District expenses for providing special education are also expected to grow by $2.9 million next year. Operated at a heavy cost to Oakland and other school district, special education programs represent an “unfunded mandate,” which means they are required by law but not covered by state or federal funds.

Not alone in facing financial austerity, the Sacramento Unified School District is currently in the news as it struggles to come to grips with a $27 million deficit. The district is under pressure from FCMAT and the state auditor to cut teachers’ salaries and benefits.

According to a state audit, cited by the Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento school district could save millions of dollars by “cutting salaries by 2 percent, increasing teacher’s contributions to retiree health benefits and capping the district’s payment toward employee health care benefits at 90 percent.”

At present the district pays 100 percent of health costs.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.