News

Former OUSD Supt. Wilson Overspent Budget for Administrators as Much as 100 Percent

Published

7 years ago

November 3, 2017

As the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) struggles to maintain financial solvency – cutting expenses and realigning spending priorities – reports are coming to light indicating that expenditures for administrators and consultants grew dramatically during the three years of Supt. Antwan Wilson’s administration and regularly exceeded the adopted budget by as much as 100 percent.

“As leader of OUSD, these are not the kind of numbers I want to see,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell.

“Our schools need the best leadership we can find, but we must find and keep those leaders while working within our means,” she said. “It is our duty to ensure that we are operating in as efficient and cost-effective way as possible. I am committed to putting us on the right path to fiscal stability.”

According to one of the numerous financial reports presented Monday night to the school board’s Budget and Finance Committee, total spending for classified (non-teaching) supervisors and administrators grew by 69 percent during Supt. Wilson’s administration, July 2014 – January 2017.

Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell

Classified spending was at $13.1 million in the final year of previous Supt. Tony Smith’s administration (2013-2014), and rose to $22.3 million in 2016-2017.

At the same time, the district overspent its allocated budget for classified supervisors by over 100 percent in the past two school years.

Spending for administrators and supervisors with teaching certificates grew 44 percent – from $13.9 million in 2013-2014 to $20 million last school year. Spending in that category exceeded the approved budget by $4 million in 2015-2016 and $1 million last year.

In the category of professional and consulting services, spending grew 25 percent from $22.7 million in 2013-2014 to $28.3 million in 2016-2017.

Last year, expenditures for consultants exceeded the budget by 32 percent.

Reversing the pattern, expenditures for books and supplies fluctuated but never reached the amounts budgeted during the three years of Wilson administration. In 2015-2016, $18.6 million was budgeted and only $12 million was spent.

Last school year, $20 million was budgeted and only $6.8 million was spent.

Wilson, who left Oakland at the end of January to head Wash., D.C. schools, minimized the economic dangers facing OUSD in an interview about the district’s financial condition with the Washington Post (WP).

“He said the projected shortfall is part of the annual budget process; many of the nation’s school systems, in seeking full funding, report projected shortfalls to their local governments,” according to the WP. “He said the shortfall in Oakland will materialize only if the school system keeps all programs fully funded and makes no cuts.

“That’s not what’s going to happen. That’s not what has happened any year I have been here,” Wilson told the WP. “Every year that I have been at Oakland, Oakland has balanced its budget.”

To keep from going into the red this year, the district is cutting $46.7 million from its budget, including $32.5 million last school year and an additional $14.2 million this year.

The district administration has proposed that this year’s cuts will be divided between the schools and the central office, $5.6 million or 2.2 percent of school site expenditures and $8.6 million or 11.6 percent of the central office budget.

The administration is proposing that each school community will decide what to cut.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

2nd Annual Orisa Urban World Festival Kicks Off, Runs till Dec. 2

Don't Miss

Rebecca Kaplan Wins Funding and Air Quality Improvements and Funding for Oakland

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

PRESS ROOM: Clyburn, Pressley, Scanlon, Colleagues Urge Biden to Use Clemency Power to Address Mass Incarceration Before Leaving Office

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country.

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Read the letter here.

Watch the press conference here.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) led 60 of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to use his executive clemency power in the final months of his presidency to reunite families, address longstanding injustices in our legal system, and set our nation on the path toward ending mass incarceration.

The lawmakers hosted a press conference earlier today to discuss the letter. A full video of their press conference is available here and photos are available here.

“Now is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “The grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform.”

Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country. The extreme use of incarceration has resulted in one in two adults having had an incarcerated family member. People of color are disproportionately put behind bars, along with individuals from low-income communities, LGBTQIA+ folks, and those with disabilities. The bloated prison system reflects and emboldens biases that undermine the ideals of our nation and diminish trust in the rule of law. Mass incarceration attacks the most vulnerable Americans, thereby destabilizing families and inflicting intergenerational trauma.

In their letter to President Biden, the lawmakers praised the President’s efforts to create a fair and just criminal legal system by pardoning people convicted of simple marijuana possession and LGBTQ+ former servicemembers and urged the President to use his clemency powers to help broad classes of people and cases, including the elderly and chronically ill, those on death row, people with unjustified sentencing disparities, and women who were punished for defending themselves against their abusers. The lawmakers also outlined the fiscal toll of the growing mass incarceration crisis.

“You have the support of millions of people across the country who have felt the harms of mass incarceration: young children longing to hug their grandparents, people who have taken responsibility for their mistakes, and those who simply were never given a fair chance,” the lawmakers wrote. “These are the people seeking help that only you can provide through the use of your presidential clemency power.”

Joining Representatives Clyburn, Pressley, and Scanlon in sending the letter are Representatives Joyce Beatty, Sanford Bishop, Shontel Brown, Cori Bush, André Carson, Troy Carter, Yvette Clarke, Jasmine Crockett, Valerie Foushee, Al Green, Jahana Hayes, Steven Horsford, Jonathan Jackson, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Summer Lee, Jennifer McClellan, Gregory Meeks, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Scott, Terri Sewell, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The lawmakers’ letter is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union; Center for Popular Democracy; Last Prisoner Project; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Death Penalty Action; The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls; The Faith Leaders of Color Coalition; Second Chance Justice of MCAN; JustLeadershipUSA; FAMM; The Episcopal Church; The Bambi Fund; Free Billie Allen Campaign; People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom; Prophetic Resistance Boston; and Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

Tennessee State University Set to Debut the First Division I Hockey Team at An HBCU

THE AFRO — “I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Duanté Abercrombie, the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team, in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

admin

By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Tennessee State University (TSU) continues to break ground on a historic journey to become the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to field a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ice hockey team. Alongside some assistance from the National Hockey League (NHL), the NHL Players’ Association and the Nashville Predators, the TSU Tigers have already named their official head coach, unveiled their jersey and received their first official commitment from a student-athlete.

TSU held an official press conference to announce the plan in June 2023. Their first official season as a sanctioned Division I program is planned to commence in 2025-26. On April 18, TSU named Duanté Abercrombie as the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team.

“I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Abercrombie in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Abercrombie was raised in Washington, D.C., and was mentored by hockey legend Neal Henderson, the first Black man to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Abercrombie attended Gonzaga College High School and graduated from Hampton University, where he was a track and field athlete prior to retiring due to an injury. After college, Abercrombie briefly played professional hockey in both the New Zealand Ice Hockey League as well as the Federal Hockey League.

After his career as a professional hockey player, Abercrombie moved onto coaching, including stints with his alma mater Gonzaga and Georgetown Preparatory School. In 2022-23, Abercrombie was a member of the coaching staff for NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

“We are no longer doing club play in 2024-25. We are going right into D1 play for 2025-26,” Nick Guerriero told the AFRO. Guerriero is the assistant athletic director of communications and creative content at Tennessee State.

On Jan. 19, TSU got their first official commitment from an ice hockey recruit, Xavier Abel. Abel played at Drury University and scored 12 goals in 34 games, including three game-winning goals. Abel was recruited by Guerriero.

In July, the Tigers got their second commitment from forward Trey Fechko. In October, Trey’s brother Marcus Fechko also committed to Tennessee State. Since, the Tigers have also signed forward Greye Rampton, goaltender Johnny Hicks, Grady Hoffman and four-star forward Bowden Singleton. Singleton flipped his commitment from North Dakota to Tennessee State. Guerriero said that TSU has a “few” other recruits that they are waiting to announce during their November signing period.

“I think it’s important to invest in these unorthodox sports for Black athletes because it allows Black children to have more opportunities to play sports in general,” said Zion Williams, a 2024 Gettysburg College graduate and former collegiate athlete. “The more opportunities that children have, the better. They won’t feel like they are boxed into one thing or sport.”