Oakland school board ends contract with superintendent as district exits receivership
The Brief
OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell is expected to finish out the school year.
The superintendent had two years left on her contract. The board is calling this a voluntary separation agreement.
The district is now out of receivership after 22 years. Despite this the board has voted Johnson-Trammell out.
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Unified School District on Wednesday voted behind closed doors to remove longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. The decision was made despite her being credited with getting the district out of receivership.
What we know
The district has had a state or county trustee with veto power over financial decisions. Boardmember Mike Hutchinson said the district has had this oversight since 2003.
Tonight's vote means, after eight years, Johnson-Trammell will be leaving the district at the end of the fiscal year.
A preliminary 4-1 vote came down earlier this month, which set up tonight's final vote.
Upset parents and community leaders were at Wednesday's board meeting. The crowd was largely supportive of the superintendent and criticized the board for their closed-door decision.
The school board took action to approve a voluntary separation agreement with the superintendent to which a crowd of people booed.
The reaction from the audience was swift when Oakland school board President Jennifer Brouhard announced that it had voted in closed session to end its contract with superintendent Kyla Johnson Trammell, who was not present at the meeting.
The vote was 4-3.
Hutchinson was among those who opposed the move.
"We have a school board colluding with our teachers' union leadership attacking our district. There hasn't been one public discussion, not one person has given any justification for it or explain why they would want to do it and this is a superintendent where we just extended her contract less than eight months ago," Hutchinson said.
He said today should have been a celebration with the district "finally leaving receivership after 22 years."
"We're facing the biggest crisis we've ever seen," Hutchinson said.
As Brouhard headed into the open session of the meeting, she declined to answer KTVU's question as to why the board voted to end its contract with the superintendent. Brouhard simply told us, "I'm going to report out in just a minute. I'll talk to you guys as soon as I'm done."
Before the school board meeting got underway, Families in Action, a public education advocacy group that supports the superintendent, rallied and marched.
"The stability of our top leader is crucial to the stability of our schools, the safety and the learning and the educational outcome of our students," said Kimi Kean, founder of Families in Action.
Parents and students criticized the board, saying that it is not focusing on the needs of students. They say many Black and brown kids are not proficient in reading and math.
"I know high school is not for everybody, but there is a life after high school and you need to prepare for that and you're not going to be prepared for that if you can't read or do math at your grade level," said Sarai Raines, a student at Oakland Tech High School.
Gregory Nash is raising his 9-year-old grandson who attends Hoover Elementary School. He is critical of the board making decisions behind closed doors without community input.
"Why are the board people fighting who's getting fired? Who's going to rasie our kids? Who's going to give our kids an education where they can stay at and be somebody?" Nash said.
What's next
Superintendent Johnson-Trammell has two years left on her contract, which was renewed within the last year. She is expected to finish out the school year in her current role. After that, the board will appoint an interim superintendent on July 1.
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