Latest news with #OUSD
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland school board appoints interim superintendent
The Oakland school board has voted to appoint a veteran educator and former president of the teacher's union to interim superintendent, the district announced Friday. Denise Saddler will serve as interim superintendent for the 2025-26 school year starting July 1, the district said. The school board will vote to approve Saddler's finalized employment contract at an upcoming board meeting. 'We thank our community for its continued engagement throughout this process and look forward to officially welcoming Dr. Saddler once the contract is finalized. Together, we remain committed to providing every OUSD student with the thriving schools they deserve,' the district said Friday in a statement. The appointment of Saddler to interim superintendent comes a day after the former longtime superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell, gave her final remarks at a news conference Thursday. The union-backed school board majority ousted Johnson-Trammell in April, eight months after extending her contract through June 2027. Saddler, the interim superintendent, has more than 40 years of education experience under her belt, including as a teacher and administrator for the district, officials said. She has previously served as principal of Chabot Elementary and oversaw 15 schools in North and West Oakland as the district's former network executive officer. From 2013 to 2015, Saddler served as assistant superintendent for education services for the Berryessa Union School District in San Jose, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also served as president of the Oakland Education Association, which represents the district's 3,000 teachers, counselors, aides and other educators, for six years, the district said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Oakland schools superintendent says farewell after her firing from OUSD
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — On Thursday, the final day of the 2024-25 school year, superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell held a news conference before she departs from Oakland Unified School District. Johnson-Trammell was the longest-serving superintendent of OUSD in 55 years. Her tenure officially ends on June 30, marking eight years at the helm of the second largest school district in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the news conference, Dr. Johnson-Trammell highlighted accomplishments of her administration, including: Paying off $100 million in loans and exited a State Receivership after 22 years. Raising OUSD's graduation rate to its highest level in decades. Navigating schools through the COVID pandemic. Sparking public-private partnerships with Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, KABOOM!, and Trust for Public Land to improve nearly two dozen school yards. Launching an all-electric school district bus fleet. Following a tense school board meeting when tempers flared in April, board trustees narrowly voted 4-3 in favor of firing Johnson-Trammell. Trustees offered zero explanations for why they decided to get rid of their superintendent. Johnson-Trammell did not attend the April meeting. However, she published a thank you letter writing, 'The last eight years have brought some of the most challenging and most defining moments in our district's history. Through it all, Oakland has shown what's possible when we stay grounded in our mission and vision and work in partnership for our students.' OUSD officials have not yet announced who their next superintendent will be. Trustees held a closed-door meeting Wednesday night. The NAACP Education Committee Oakland Branch wrote a letter to the school board raising alarms that OUSD is entering the summer in a 'leadership vacuum.' The letter stated, 'We are deeply troubled by the Board's April 23rd vote to terminate Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell—an abrupt and destabilizing decision that has left a leadership vacuum in our district. Superintendent Johnson-Trammell's contributions were not only historic but stabilizing. She successfully led OUSD out of 22 years of state receivership and oversaw a $100 million state loan repayment—an extraordinary accomplishment for our district. Her removal, two years before her contract was set to end, was executed without a clear succession plan and has triggered widespread concern throughout our community for the past few weeks.' NAACP leaders questioned whether the board's decision was made in the best interests of students, or influenced by political agendas and 'behind-the-scenes union maneuvering.' Earlier this May, the school board voted fully reverse its plans to make sweeping cuts to afterschool, before-school, and summer programs. The planned cuts would have hacked expanded learning programs by up to 80% and impacted thousands of students who rely on the programs for academic support, mentorship, meals, and safety, advocates with Youth Together said. The board's reversal came after weeks of mounting public pressure. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
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."
CBS News
28-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Oakland teachers plan one-day strike on May 1, claim unfair labor conditions
Parents and students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) are once again bracing for disruption, as teachers voted to authorize a one-day strike scheduled for May 1. Thursday's strike, which falls on International Workers' Day, is being held in protest of what the Oakland Education Association (OEA) describes as "unfair labor practices" by the district. The OEA, which represents approximately 3,000 public school educators, announced the walkout over the weekend, citing the district's failure to provide required financial information related to recent budget cuts and layoffs. OUSD has been grappling with a multi-million-dollar deficit and in March, issued around 100 layoff notices. "The District has a legal obligation to provide this information, which is needed to enable educators to understand how proposals would affect teachers, District and classroom stability, and the community we serve," the union said in a statement released Sunday. Thursday's work stoppage will mark the fourth teacher strike in six years. Teachers held a seven-day strike in 2023, a one-day strike in 2022 and a seven-day strike in 2019. While the looming strike presents another logistical challenge for families, many parents said they stand firmly behind Oakland educators. "OUSD should be ashamed of creating a school environment where kids can't count on school taking place. My kids are 6th grader and 9th grader now," said parent Rachel Kinnon. "They don't believe that school will be there for them, from one week to the next because you never know when there's going to be a strike." Kinnon, like others, expressed frustration with the instability of the school calendar. "We need to be able to count on the schools to be open on school days so that we know where our kids are, and we don't need to interrupt our jobs. We don't need to change our lives around when our kids should be at school learning," she told CBS News Bay Area. Despite the inconvenience, Kinnon said she remains committed to supporting educators. "Luckily, my kids are old enough that I can keep them home. I would never cross a strike. I support the teachers," she said. "When they were in elementary school and the strike went on for days and days, that was really hard. It's almost an impossible thing to put a family through." Another OUSD parent, Jme McLean, said she trusts the educators' judgment. "I'm not as caught up in all of the details, but I do trust our teachers, and know that if they're considering doing something as drastic as this, that it is important and something that we should all pay attention to," McLean said. However, not everyone agrees with the union's stance. District 4 School Board Director Mike Hutchinson said he is confused by the strike announcement, arguing that all relevant financial documents have already been made available. "All of our budget documents are public information. They are publicly posted on our district website, as required by law. And so, I would just point out that there's been very general claims made and nobody has been able to say specifically what document they have not been given," Hutchinson said. Hutchinson also expressed frustration over the lack of communication in the days leading up to the planned strike. "It is offensive that we are four days away from a strike and there's been no communication about anything. So, what's supposed to happen on Thursday?" he asked. Amid the conflict, the OUSD school board has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday night in an effort to work with the union and avoid the strike. Some parents, including Kinnon, said the district's ongoing instability may push families to leave the school system altogether. "OUSD is shooting itself in the foot. They're doing all this stuff that's breaking trust and breaking any support that they might have had with families," she said. CBS News Bay Area reached out to Oakland Unified on Sunday for comment regarding its preparations should the strike move forward, but the district has yet to respond.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
