Principals in Oakland have sent a letter to school district leaders calling to initiate the process of school closures for the financially-challenged district.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
Dozens of Oakland school principals, warning of dire conditions in classrooms, urged district leaders this week to stop stalling and do what has to be done: Close schools and pick a permanent superintendent.
In a letter to the school board and interim Superintendent Denise Saddler, 42 district principals raised a wide range of concerns about district finances and expressed a lack of confidence in current leadership.
It was an unprecedented show of force by more than half the school’s site leaders.
Article continues below this ad
“We spend more money per pupil than most other districts in California; however, our decisions as a district have resulted in a structural deficit and cash-strapped schools,” the letter said. “Cash-strapped schools will not change the conditions that result in 70% of students reading below grade level.”
School board leadership and district officials did not respond to requests for comment.
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
The letter demonstrated the strongest support to date from school administrators for school closures, with the principals who signed on calling for the board to start a process by this summer to reduce the number of sites.
“We cannot maintain the current structure and operate 81 schools with skeleton services for young people and their families,” they said in the letter. “We need to make deeper investments in quality and stability so that we can execute on our vision for all children to thrive.”
Article continues below this ad
The current board majority and the teachers union have strongly opposed school closures despite the cuts to staff and programs. At some sites, enrollment has dropped precipitously in recent years, with fewer than 150 students attending schools that used to have three to four times more.
Previous attempts to close schools have been met with protests, walkouts and even a hunger strike.
Now, however, the number of naysayers is starting to dwindle and the necessity of shuttering sites is starting to sink in, said one principal who signed the letter.
“Everybody knows (the current number of schools) doesn’t make sense,” said the principal, who requested anonymity because of concerns related to their job. “All principals understand as hard as it is on the community it’s the right thing to do.”
The principals’ letter also took aim at several recent actions by the school board, including staffing and fiscal decisions with long-term implications for the district.
Article continues below this ad
At some point over the past several weeks, board leadership or the board majority reportedly suspended the search for a new superintendent, but did not publicly announce it. The board had been expected to announce a finalist for the job this month, based on a timeline announced in October, with a permanent superintendent in place by July 1.
Instead, board President Jennifer Brouhard told the Mercury News earlier this week that the board informally agreed in a recent closed session to suspend the search for a new superintendent at least until the fall.
Then, following Wednesday’s meeting, board member Mike Hutchinson said the board majority voted in closed session to extend interim Superintendent Denise Saddler’s contract through June 2027. That vote was not publicly announced following the session as typically required by state open meeting laws.
In response to Wednesday’s lack of public disclosure, district officials said “any final action taken by the Board on the matter in question will occur in open session at a later date.”
The principals’ letter questioned why the school leaders were left in the dark about the search, its abrupt suspension and the state of the $150,000 contract with a search firm to identify candidates. It’s unclear whether district officials even initiated the search after approving the contract in October.
Article continues below this ad
The 42 principals urged Saddler and the school board to “accelerate an authentic superintendent search” with community input, rather than continue to delay finding a permanent leader for the district.
“Our students, families, and schools deserve an opportunity to determine the leadership committed to the long-term vision of our district,” they wrote.
The principals also criticized recent personnel decisions, including the appointment of the district’s chief of talent, Tara Gard, to the new position of deputy superintendent of business and operations, despite a lack of budget experience. At the same time, the board has approved nearly $900,000 in contracts on outside advisors to help form a fiscal solvency plan.
“The decision leaves us concerned that we are not approaching the fiscal crisis in a serious manner, given how grave the cuts to our school sites and central office have been,” the letter said.
Currently, the district is facing an ongoing deficit this year and next, but has yet to calculate the cost of a February agreement with the teachers union, which included a 13% raise over two fiscal years for teachers with the longest tenure and an 11% for all others, as well as other other cost increases.
Article continues below this ad
The County Office of Education has given the school board until the end of this month to come up with that cost estimate and comprehensive budget date as well a plan to remain solvent in the coming years. As of Friday, there was no indication the district would meet the deadline.
County Superintendent Alysse Castro warned district officials that they have repeatedly failed to follow through with financial plans and have largely ignored “millions of dollars in fiscal advisor support” provided by her office.
“This is not a revenue problem — it is a decision-making problem,” Castro told the board in an April 16 letter to the board and superintendent, echoing the principals’ letter.
The 42 principals requested a meeting with the board and superintendent to discuss their concerns and their thoughts on how to move forward.
“You have the opportunity to move OUSD toward long-term fiscal stability through challenging and complex decisions. That is the job,” the principals said in the letter. “We ask that you embrace this call to action.”