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Principals in Oakland have sent a letter to school district leaders calling to initiate the process of school closures for the financially-challenged district.<\/p>\n
Don Feria\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It was an unprecedented show of force by more than half the school\u2019s site leaders.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe 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,\u201d the letter said. \u201cCash-strapped schools will not change the conditions that result in 70% of students reading below grade level.\u201d<\/p>\n
School board leadership and district officials did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot maintain the current structure and operate 81 schools with skeleton services for young people and their families,\u201d they said in the letter. \u201cWe need to make deeper investments in quality and stability so that we can execute on our vision for all children to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Previous attempts to close schools have been met with protests, walkouts and even a hunger strike.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows (the current number of schools) doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d said the principal, who requested\u00a0anonymity because of concerns related to their job. \u201cAll principals understand as hard as it is on the community it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The principals\u2019 letter also took aim at several recent actions by the school board, including staffing and fiscal decisions with long-term implications for the district.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n