Oakland Unified School District families brace for more cuts: "I would be devastated."
OAKLAND — Families with children in the Oakland Unified School District are bracing for more cuts.
A resolution passed in March could slash OUSD after-school, early morning and summer programs by 80% starting this August.
Araceli Ramos-Vega's daughter, Juliana, has attended Laurel Elementary school since kindergarten; she's now in 2nd grade.
Juliana has spent nearly every afternoon in the after-school program.
"My kids' favorite part of the day is after school," Ramos-Vega explained. "She literally cries almost every day when it's time to go home. So I know that she loves it."
The program is run by the community organization, Safe Passages. It includes academic tutoring, enrichment services, and sports programs. Juliana thrives on the developmental opportunities it provides.
"My favorite part of the after-school program is the activities," Ramos-Vega said.
But it may all be coming to an end after this school year. At a March 26 school board meeting, members passed an "alternative budget solutions" resolution by a 4-3 vote. The resolution froze over $8 million allocated for after-school programs.
Ramos-Vega is a single mother and says she relies on the help of the after-school program.
"I think she would be devastated," said Ramos-Vega. "I would be devastated. I would probably have to figure out another form of enrichment activity for my kid. Leaving work early until I can figure out how to accommodate either childcare or another after-school program. Financially, it would impact me majorly."
District 4 Board Director Mike Hutchinson took to his Facebook page to express his disapproval of the vote.
"The school board was advised by staff not to approve the resolution, and we were all made aware of the damage this would cause," Hutchinson wrote. "The only way to fix the situation is for the board to vote to rescind their alternative budget solutions resolution. Everyone should demand that Brouhard, Bachelor, Latta, and Williams fix the problem they knowingly created."
He says on Wednesday, he will introduce a resolution to rescind the budget cuts with District 7 Director Clifford Thompson
The cuts range from 50% to 80% of each school's after-school budget.
Josefina Alvarado-Mena, CEO of Safe Passages, says Laurel would lose 80% of its funding, meaning they would only be able to support 20 percent of the more than 300 kids currently in the after-school program.
"There's no process for that, and we don't want to be in the position of having to decide which kid needs after-school the most," said Alvarado-Mena. "All kids need after-school programming. There are so many communities in Oakland where after-school is a lifeline for kids and families."
Other organizations will be impacted as well, including Oakland Leaf, Girls Inc., Bay Area Community Resources, Youth Together, East Bay Asian Youth Center, Oakland Kids First and East Bay Agency for Children.
In a statement, Cailin Stockdale, the EBAC Director of Communications, said that this resolution can't stand.
"East Bay Agency for Children (EBAC) shares the concerns of our community partners about the consequences of the passage of Resolution #25-0492, and we are calling for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board to immediately rescind their decision. If this resolution stands, it will have devastating outcomes for Oakland kids and families," said Stockdale on behalf of the EBAC.
Ramos-Vega shared the sentiment.
"It's going to affect a huge number of families, and I know it's not just this school.," she said. "It's district-wide so it's a mistake that should not have been made and it needs to be corrected immediately."
We reached out to the Oakland Unified School District; they did not get back to us by the time of this report.
