22-05-2025
Possibility of Oakland after-school programs being cut had community worried
A heated meeting took place as the Oakland School Board looked at the possibility of cutting after-school programs.
While emotions ran high among students and parents, there were also tensions among members of the board.
Students and teachers with after-school programs and parents rallied before Wednesday's Oakland Unified School Board meeting to send a message to the board.
"Afterschool programs are lifelines for working parents," said Jessica Ludy, whose daughter goes to an OUSD school and attends an after-school program.
With her husband currently out of work, quitting her job to stay home with Lucia isn't an option. What it may come down to is to pay for childcare.
"I work in San Francisco, so usually by the time I get home and off of BART, it's pretty close to 6 p.m.," Ludy said.
While parents worry about where their kids would go after school, the school board showed a clear divide on how to solve this issue.
"Unfortunately, we have a school board that is spiraling out of control," said Director Mike Hutchinson.
Director Hutchinson showed frustration with his colleagues. He said fellow board members voted to freeze $29 million which would decimate 50% to 80% of their after-school programs.
"This is unacceptable that they created this amount of fear and uncertainty in the community," he said. "We need after-school programs. Our school sites don't need to have tens and thousands of dollars cut at this point of the year for next year."
One of the colleagues Director Hutchinson is referring to is board president Jennifer Brouhard. In the meeting, she said it was never her intention to make any cuts to after-school programs and wanted to correct the mistake.
Despite their personal differences, the board was united to keep after-school programs. After four hours, the members ended up voting on Director Hutchinson's amendment. Parents are hoping after-school programs are here to stay for good.
"There's so many cuts to social services and social safety net programs across the board that the schools are sort of a last resort," Ludy said. "And to see something like this to be on the table, don't know what's next or where it's going to stop."
