City Government

McClymonds Fights to Save Mentoring Program for Student Athletes

Published

8 years ago

March 23, 2017

The McClymonds High School community – including parents and students – took over the school board meeting Wednesday evening demanding the board hear their pleas to save an afterschool tutoring and mentoring program.

Parents and students had just learned that Student Program for Academic & Athletic Transitioning (SPAAT) would lose its funding at the end of the school year.

Chanting “We want SPAAT! We want SPAAT,” Mack supporters shut down the meeting after waiting two hours for a chance to speak and being told by Board President James Harris that they would only have one minute each to address the board.

Harris apologized and allowed the students – a number of them members of Mack’s championship winning football team – to speak for the large group that came to the meeting.

“You taking away SPAAT is like breaking into my house,” said Thurmal Felise, a 9th grader, who said his grade point went up this year from 0.8 to 3.8.

SPAAT is a non-profit organization that “empowers socially and economically disadvantaged high school student-athletes by providing them with academic, community and athletic support services to increase the number of student-athletes prepared for college, careers and life after sports,” according to the program’s webpage.

Day’Marr Johnson, an 11^th grader, asked the board not to take away the sports afterschool program.

“Our school is so small because you try to cut it down so much. You are trying to take our teachers away from us. I am a McClymonds Warrior,” he said.

“This school means more to us than anything. We brought you something you never had before – a state (football) championship,” said Jamiana Akinjo, 11^th grader. “(But) you are cutting so many things, it seems like Mack doesn’t mean a thing to you,” she said. “I’ve seen so many teachers leave, (and) we’ve had three or four principals since I’ve been there.”

“You spend too much money on things that are irrelevant and not enough on the things that are important.”

On Thursday, Mack students walked out of school and marched to OUSD district headquarters at 1000 Broadway to protest the shutting down of the SPAAT program and other issues including the loss of teachers and the disruption of the school leadership.

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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

7 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

6 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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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

7 days 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.