At its first regular meeting of the school year, the Oakland Unified School District board got encouraging budget news \u2014 and learned the district has made strides in teacher turnover. The board also welcomed two new student directors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In June, the board approved a budget<\/a> using conservative projections for state funding that had not been settled. Troy Christmas, OUSD\u2019s senior director of strategic projects, said that based on the final state budget, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom later that month, OUSD expects to receive an additional $8 million in cost-of-living adjustments and up to $12 million in additional special education funding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need continued discipline in terms of how we are budgeting, and I\u2019ll give you some of the factors that are driving it,\u201d Christmas said. \u201cWe have expected costs from outstanding labor negotiations that need to be considered; we have continued cost growth in certain programs, including special education, but not limited to special education, and we have continued spend down of restricted fund balances.\u201d<\/p>\n The additional special education dollars from the state mean the district can reduce the amount it contributes to special education from the unrestricted general fund, which has had to cover nearly 75% of special education costs in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, district staff are still planning to implement a $30 million reduction<\/a> that the board approved in June to ensure OUSD meets a self-imposed 3% of its total budget in a reserve fund, and to make sure there are funds set aside for other obligations, like unsettled contract negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are following the last direction of the board,\u201d Christmas said. \u201cSo if and when that direction shifts, then we will shift how our planning will go. While reducing it to a different number might be something that might be mathematically possible, we\u2019re aware of other expenses that are on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n Those cuts will be guided by the district\u2019s fiscal stabilization plan<\/a>, which focuses on shrinking the district\u2019s central office, reducing special education contributions, and decreasing routine maintenance expenses, among other areas targeted for cuts. Staff will come back to the next board meeting with updated budget projections for this year and present the final numbers for the 2025-2026 school year, so that position may change.<\/p>\n A staff report noted that reductions to federal revenue sources, such as Title I funds dedicated to high-poverty schools \u2014 which most OUSD schools receive \u2014 could still be forthcoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n Few teacher vacancies to start the year<\/p>\n At Wednesday\u2019s meeting, Superintendent Denise Saddler shared some other good news, saying OUSD is starting the year with its lowest teacher vacancy rate in years \u2014 more than 99% of teaching roles are filled, leaving only about eight current teacher vacancies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been really exciting for me to meet our new employees from all areas \u2014 food services, paraeducators \u2014 but many of them are former students who are coming to work in what I call our OUSD family,\u201d Saddler said. \u201cIt is wonderful to see how diverse the group of people are that we\u2019re hiring.\u201d<\/p>\n The school district has been in negotiations since the spring with United Administrators of Oakland Schools, the union representing school principals, assistant principals, community school managers, and managers at the central office. Last month, the union held a protest<\/a> during a leadership retreat to call attention to\u00a0 school safety issues and salaries that lag behind other local districts.<\/p>\n \u201cAdministrators\u2019 voices have continued to be dismissed and disregarded throughout the past year, and as you can see from our actions a couple weeks ago, we will just make our voices louder,\u201d Cary Kaufman, the president of UAOS, said during the meeting Wednesday evening. \u201cWe need to listen to administrators because we are talking about what we need to ensure we have safe schools for our students and ensure that we have spaces that allow for strong student learning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ahead of the start of the school year, the Oakland branch of the NAACP called on district leadership and the Alameda County superintendent to provide more transparency about the district\u2019s finances and commitments to improving academic outcomes for students. State standardized tests<\/a> show that around 21% of Black students and 22% of Latino students in Oakland are proficient in reading; 13% of Black students and15% of Latino students are proficient in math.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs the NAACP, we are especially concerned about the conditions for Black and Latinx students and other students who have historically been underserved by the current educational system,\u201d said Dela Morris, the education chair of the Oakland NAACP, surrounded by a group of educators, parent and community leaders, and former school board directors. \u201cWhen a school district struggles, it is often these students who face the consequences first and most severely.\u201d<\/p>\n New student voices<\/p>\n Two new student members were elected to the board for the school year: Amina Tongun, a senior at Oakland Technical High School, and Andrew Bloch, a freshman at Oakland High School. Throughout the year, they\u2019ll visit district schools and meet with students to hear their concerns and priorities, and serve as a voice for students in school board discussions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur voices should be part of decision-making processes from the beginning,\u201d Tongun said in her remarks during the meeting. \u201cThat means I want to hear from you. I want to know what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t. What you wish adults understood about what being a student means right now and what changes you think our schools actually need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI aspire to be the best representative of the student body possible by listening to students and community members while we work to strengthen the district,\u201d Bloch said. \u201cMy goal is to partner with my fellow board and community members to stabilize OUSD while prioritizing increased communication and collaboration with students, so that students know what is happening in the district and they feel their voices are heard.\u201d<\/p>\n