Since the district\u2019s budget plan includes moving budget lines from the general fund to more restricted revenues<\/a>, schools that don\u2019t qualify for those specialized funding streams are slated to lose staff who were previously paid through the general fund.<\/p>\n Over the last month, school leaders have received what are known as \u201cone pagers\u201d from the district \u2014 a spreadsheet outlining their school\u2019s budget and staffing allocations for the next school year, based on enrollment and the special needs of that school\u2019s student population. And many are suddenly facing the prospect of losing crucial staff \u2014 with little time to find funding to keep them. The state requires districts to issue notices by March 15 to staff whose roles will be eliminated for the following school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n This month, principals will be broaching difficult conversations with some staff members to inform them that their roles aren\u2019t funded for next year, or that their position is going from full-time to part-time. For many people trying to make a living in Oakland, a part-time position just isn\u2019t feasible.\u00a0<\/p>\n An attendance strategy \u2018disconnect\u2019<\/p>\n Attendance specialists, community school managers, case managers, and literacy coaches could be cut for the 2026-2027 school year \u2014 roles principals told The Oaklandside have been essential to school leaders and students alike. At a time when the district is counting on increasing attendance to stabilize its budget<\/a>, principals said, removing the people who do that work seems contradictory.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a total disconnect in terms of stated strategy and funded resources,\u201d said Carmelita Reyes, the principal of Rudsdale High School, a continuation school in the Oakland Hills. \u201cOn the other hand, I don\u2019t know a way of cutting $100 million from this district in a way that doesn\u2019t hurt children.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the roles being cut were funded by one-time federal or state money during the pandemic, or by grants that are expiring, said Rachel Latta, chair of the school board\u2019s budget and finance committee.<\/p>\n \u201cLosing any adult at a school is horrible,\u201d Latta, who represents North Oakland, said. \u201cWe\u2019re making very difficult decisions at the school site level, and it\u2019s a question of, what can we continue to afford as some of these one-time funds, like the Community Schools Grant, go away?\u201d<\/p>\n Some schools are turning to community fundraising through parent teacher associations, but the condensed timeline, thanks to a lack of clarity from the school board over the last several months, has made the planning process more challenging this year.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually we get the information before winter break, and after winter break we meet with the community,\u201d said Peter Van Tassel, principal of Cleveland Elementary School. \u201cBetween the chaotic processes at the board level and the very abrupt changes of staff \u2014 the change in superintendent<\/a> and the loss of [former chief budget officer Lisa] Grant-Dawson \u2014 it has been more difficult to predict what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Bare bones staffing\u2019<\/p>\n As a continuation school, Rudsdale High serves students who have gaps in their academic careers and are at risk of not graduating on time from a comprehensive high school. At Rudsdale, which endured a campus shooting in 2022<\/a>, three-quarters of the students are learning English, half have immigrated to the U.S. in the last four years, and a third of the student body came to this country as unaccompanied minors.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the upcoming year, Rudsdale, like other continuation schools, could lose its attendance case managers and the attendance clerk\u2019s role has been cut from full time to half-time, principal Carmelita Reyes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe impact on a continuation school \u2014 which, by definition, serves kids who have really struggled with attendance \u2014 is extraordinary,\u201d Reyes told The Oaklandside. \u201cInstead of getting more services because you are concentrating the neediest kids in one place, you\u2019re peeling off resources.\u201d<\/p>\n The attendance clerk serves on the front line, Reyes said. If a student doesn\u2019t come to school, the clerk calls home to find out why; it\u2019s the clerk who discovers that the student is dealing with mental health challenges or has to work to support their family. The attendance case managers then work alongside the clerk to problem-solve and help remove those barriers, Reyes said. The team approach is crucial to supporting students in getting to school.<\/p>\n \u201cTeachers cannot do their jobs if we\u2019re not getting kids in the door,\u201d she said. \u201cI have no idea how OUSD thinks schools are going to be able to serve all students with such bare bones staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n At Cleveland Elementary, east of Lake Merritt, Van Tassel, the principal, is trying to figure out how to keep his community school manager, literacy coach, and eco-literacy teacher fully funded. The community school manager role is being cut to a half-time position, the literacy coach has been defunded, and the eco-literacy teacher \u2014 who runs an award-winning environmental education program<\/a> \u2014 has also been cut to part-time.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"20251009_OUSD_EG_24\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20251009_OUSD_EG_24.jpg\")
The school board has less than a month to finalize and vote on staff reductions. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for the Oaklandside<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/large-David-Sakurai-VIgil-07.jpg\")
Rudsdale students commemorate slain OUSD carpenter David Sakurai, who was shot on the campus in 2022. Credit: Amir Aziz\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n