Enrollment in Oakland Unified School District is on the rebound, but continued gains are uncertain as the district faces large unresolved deficits. 

During the first regular school board meeting of the year on Wednesday, OUSD’s executive director of enrollment Kilian Betlach reported increases in transitional kindergarten enrollment, enrollment gains from charter school closures, and a collapse in enrollment by newcomer students. 

This year, OUSD’s enrollment exceeded projections by more than 500 students, which means roughly $7 million more in state funding for the district. Eleven schools came in under projections, while 64 schools exceeded projections, including 42 schools whose enrollment was more than 5% higher than projections. The enrollment department calculates projections using birth rates, retention rates, and new and available housing stock in Oakland.  

Betlach attributed the gains to the district’s enrollment stabilization plan, which has allocated several million dollars to the effort since 2021. That last of that funding was allocated for this school year, composed of funds carried over from last year.  

“For Oakland Unified to not only not be declining but to be growing in a single year — while one year of data is not a trend — is significant and something we should take pride in,” Betlach told the school board. “Once the enrollment stabilization investments began, we stopped the pattern of failing to meet our enrollment projections, and instead exceeded them and brought in additional money at the school level.”

In Alameda County, OUSD enrolls the highest number of kids in transitional kindergarten, a grade preceding kindergarten that California expanded to all 4-year-olds this school year. A total of 1,413 transitional kindergarten students are enrolled in OUSD this year, with some school sites facing waitlists exceeding 100 students. To handle the expansion, Oakland Unified added seven new transitional kindergarten classes and two hub sites this year. Next year, OUSD expects to add four more classes. 

OUSD also saw increases this year in kindergarten retention: 87% of transitional kindergarteners went on to enroll in a district kindergarten class. High school retention rates grew, while middle school retention stayed flat after declining in recent years, Betlach said. 

The district also saw an uptick in enrollment this year from students who’d been at charter schools that closed. Roughly 28% of former students at North Oakland Community Charter School, 38% of former Oakland Charter High School students, 46% of former Aurum Prep students, and 53% of former Urban Montessori Charter School students enrolled in OUSD following the closures of their schools last year. Meanwhile, Urban Montessori Charter School moved its program and several staff to Brookfield, an OUSD elementary school. 

A ‘newcomer cliff’

Betlach noted that the enrollment growth masks some concerning trends. 

At 2,641, OUSD is serving its lowest number of newcomer students — those who have recently immigrated to the United States and don’t speak English — in 10 years. District officials attribute this to changes in immigration policy and a rise in anti-immigrant attitudes. In October 2023, OUSD had 177 first-year newcomers. In October 2025, that number dropped to 22. The biggest decline has been among unaccompanied minors, Betlach said. 

“We have a newcomer cliff where that number is going to shrink more and even more rapidly,” Betlach said. “Going from 177 to 71 to this year 22 is a precipitous decline. We know it’s driven by politics and a sense of unwelcome from the federal government.”

The district’s share of low-income students has increased over the past decade, from 74% in 2015-2016 to 81% this year. He said that upper grades have a higher concentration of Title 1 students — those living below federal poverty thresholds — than younger grades, an indication that middle and upper class families may be leaving the district as their kids reach high school.

“That means we’re not serving the entirety of our city,” Betlach said. “It suggests there are some choices being made that cause [families] to choose our district for a short period of time but not for the entirety of their educational journey, which should be a point of inquiry for us.”

Few updates on the budget

There was little discussion Wednesday night of the district’s looming budget deficit.

In December, the board moved forward with a vague plan to reduce next year’s budget by $102 million by making cuts across the board at the central office and at school sites, while relying on increases in revenue by boosting enrollment and attendance. In the days immediately following that meeting, chief business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson resigned and the chief of staff Dan Bellino was fired. 

The board did approve another contract on Wednesday with Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the firm conducting the district’s superintendent search, for a team of fiscal advisors to work with the superintendent on fleshing out the budget plan. The fiscal advisory team will review the budget, develop a fiscal recovery plan to get the district to a sustainable place, and provide fiscal analysis to the superintendent. The contract, which extends through May 1, is for up to $415,000. 

The contract was approved as part of the board’s consent agenda, where members vote on a batch of items without discussing them individually.

The board has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, Jan. 20, to discuss budget issues. It will begin at 6 p.m. at La Escuelita Elementary School.

“*” indicates required fields