By Ken Epstein

The Oakland school board majority is rushing to close schools and slash tens of millions of dollars from its budget to meet the insistent demands of the State of California, acting through L. Karen Monroe of Alameda County Office of Education and the state-funded Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT).

The list of 14 schools that face merger, consolidation or closure was confirmed by the OUSD spokesperson, who said the list was not final and could be modified and was not meant to be distributed until Friday or Saturday, Jan. 30.

Bypassing any attempts at community or school site engagement, the board plans to discuss the closures at a Zoom Board of Education meeting on Monday, Jan. 31, which was the deadline imposed on the district by L. K. Monroe of the Alameda County Office of Schools, to adopt the state’s draconian cuts.

The final vote on school closures is scheduled for a special board meeting in less than two weeks, on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The schools on the final list would be closed at the end of this school year.

The schools on the district’s draft list for possible closure or merger as of Tuesday are:

Prescott, Brookfield, Carl Munck, Parker, Grass Valley, La Escuelita, Westlake, Bunche, Street Academy, Rudsdale, Community Day, Hillcrest (grades 6-8), Highland/RISE (merger).

How did this all come about so quickly?

The school board voted in October to end its policy of permanently closing schools every year.

Within two weeks, the district received a letter from County Supt. Monroe saying OUSD was not a “Going Concern” and demanding closure of schools and $90 million in budget cuts by Jan. 31. Voting unanimously, the board opposed Monroe’s decision and appealed it to State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

Thurmond, however, denied their appeal.

At that point, the board was ready to give in. Led by Boardmembers Gary Yee and Shanthi Gonzales, the board then voted 5-2 to follow the directives that they had received from Monroe and FCMAT, to start closing schools again.

Boardmembers VanCedric Williams and Mike Hutchinson voted against closing the schools.

A Jan. 4 letter from FCMAT to the district underscored what was expected of the district by the state, including:

“Affirmative board action to continue planning for, and timely implementation of, a school and facility closure and consolidation plan that supports the sale or lease of surplus property.”

Many school advocates view these school closures as a land grab of public property by privatizers. Others see this is a way to force Black and Latino families out of Oakland, making education inaccessible for them by closing the schools in the neighborhoods where they live.

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