Oakland is Ready for Change
It is time to redesign our school system with students’ needs at the forefront. Last year 1Oakland advocated for and helped pass the Community of Schools Policy BP 6006, that calls for a new coordinated system that focuses on ensuring equity, quality, and the sustainability of Oakland schools. This policy calls for the Superintendent to present a workplan to the board by November 15th and for the board to vote on the plan in January 2019. This year 1Oakland leaders are advocating for OUSD to incorporate best practices and community voice and ownership as OUSD builds out a new design for our schools and students.
The first milestone of this work is in November when Superintendent Johnson Trammell will share a map and a plan to define what our school footprint should look like 5 years from now.
Check out our new video explaining the Community of Schools Policy and Workplan!
This is an opportunity for our community to define a Community of Schools that makes good on our commitment to educating all students.
The plan that will be presented this November will include the following five areas, prioritizing the development of a new citywide map of our school system:
Five Areas of the Community of Schools Workplan
1. Facilities: Prioritize how we use OUSD buildings that are not fully utilized to increase access to the quality district and charter programs that are most in demand by students and families.
2. Enrollment and Transportation: Create predictable and intentional elementary, middle, and high school enrollment processes so that students and their families can move from school to school as a community and ensure that all students have access to a great school from kindergarten to 12th grade.
3. Oversight of Charter Schools: Strengthen the district’s relationship with charter schools so that everyone is working together toward increasing quality and addressing inequities.
4. Sharing Best Practices: Increase access to quality and equitable education for all students by creating formal opportunities to share practices that are working for students.
5. Innovative Programs: Reimagine schools so that they have the flexibility to make decisions based on their students’ needs.
What We’ve Learned
Over the past two months, the 1Oakland team held 150+ 1:1 meetings with community members, district leaders, community-based organization, and charter management organization leaders, and hosted 3 focus groups and more than 15 research meetings with local and national leaders. We listened to our community’s stories and found patterns to shape guiding principles and recommendations for the workplan.
1Oakland Leaders shared recommendations for the Community of Schools workplan at the October 10th, school board meeting.
Click here to see the Guiding Principles presented to the OUSD Board of Education on October 10th, 2018.
It’s going to take all of us.
The success of creating and implementing the Community of Schools workplan depends on the leadership and commitment of our Oakland community. The district cannot do this alone and it will require community-based organizations, families, educators, local charter school leaders, and city leaders working together.
Now is the time to get involved:
- Join the 1Oakland campaign by signing up here.
- Sign up to get more up to date emails about the 1Oakland campaign here.
- We will be hosting a community event to gather input on our recommendations in the weeks to come. Email mirella@gopublicschools.org if you would like to receive an invitation.
