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Oakland Unif ied School Dist r ict AdvisoryFor Immediate Release

Lakeview Sit -in St atement

Oakland June 22, 2012 School closures are generally unpopular and never easy. No one wants to closeschools, but OUSD made this difficult decision because it's in the best long-term interests of students. OUSD'senrollment has declined by roughly 17,000 students over the past decade and we have twice as many schoolsas the typical California school district our size. We're simply spread too thin to lift every school to the pointwhere it provides students the level of support they deserve. By consolidating into fewer schools, we caninvest more heavily in each site and develop better, richer programs for children and families.

School closure is a painful step in the process of remaking a school district to serve students more effectivelyin a time of dramatically declining state funding that has reduced our budget by more than 25 percent overthe past four years. The status quo is insufficient and in order to do better, we have to change the way weallocate resources. Our restructuring plan, of which school closures were just a part, allowed OUSD to:

Increase the amount of money devoted to every Oakland student in the 2012-13 budget by 5 percentat a time when most districts are slashing per-pupil allocations

Remain committed to 180 days of schooling when many neighboring school districts are shorteningthe school year

Eliminate a $40 million structural deficit so thatfor the first time in yearsongoing revenue equalsor exceeds ongoing expense

The fact that we were able to accomplish these objectives speaks to the impact of our restructuring strategyand how it has better positioned OUSD to serve students and families. We understand that school closures arean emotional and divisive issue and that the public has a right to voice its anger with the decision. At the sametime, we ask that people express themselves in a lawful manner that doesn't interfere with our ability to

prepare for the 2012-13 school year and carry out the school closure recommendation which was approved bythe democratically-elected Oakland School Board in October 2011.

We retain hope of achieving a resolution to this situation and consider arrests to be a last resort. We recognizethe emotional nature of the school closure issue and want to allow protesters to make a public statement anddisperse without further escalation.

Although the reasons for school closures have been debated widely during this period, it may be helpful torevisit some of the major issues involved with OUSDs restructuring plan

7/31/2019 OUSD Lakeview Sit-In Statement

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(www.thrivingstudents.org/restructuring ), which includes, but is not limited to school closures, specificallythat:

Enrollment has declined by about 17,000 students over the past decade to fewer than 38,000, andOUSD has too many schools for the number of students enrolled

o OUSD has roughly twice as many as a typical California school district our size for chart see:www.thrivingstudents.org/43

OUSD has too many under-enrolled schools or schools with low enrollment relative to capacity OUSD has too many schools that are not providing children all the services they need because our

resources are spread too broadly. By consolidating to a manageable size, we can invest more heavily inthe remaining sites and offer richer programs and services for children

As for Lakeview specifically, the school is being recommended for closure, in part because it:

Ranked in the bottom quarter of elementary schools in terms of:o The number of children living within a half-mile of the school or within the attendance areao The lowest percentage of neighborhood students attending the school (30%)

Ranked in the bottom third in terms of enrollment size and declining enrollment Ranked in the bottom third for facilities utilization Ranked in the bottom third of elementary schools for increasing the number of students scoring

proficient or advanced in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math CST Ranked in the bottom quarter of elementary schools in attendance

Lakeview has strengths. It has shown improved academic performance in recent years, boasts a strong senseof community and close alignment with its afterschool program. Yet, school closures are larger than any oneschool or handful of schools. In order to meet the enormous challenges required to ensure that our schoolscan serve the whole child and prepare all our students for success in school, career and life, we cant continue

as we have. Transforming OUSD into a school district that produces positive results for all children demandsthat we completely re-envision the way we operate.

Although talk of school closures dominates the restructuring discussion, ultimately, this is part of a largermission to: Provide all children with quality school options Encourage more families to choose OUSD Schools Create a sustainable school district that produces results for all children Deploy staff and mo ney more efficiently and use the savings to invest more resources in Oakland schools

This is incredibly hard work and some of the choices involved are unpopular and necessary in order to create asustainable system that can provide high-quality education for all Oakland students. For more information onour efforts in this area, please visit: www.thrivingstudents.org .

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