Community
OUSD Teachers, Parents, Ask for Weekly COVID-19 Testing
In an effort to ensure safety as the Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases both nationally and locally, Oakland parents and teachers are asking the Oakland Unified School District to provide weekly COVID-19 tests to all students and staff.
In an effort to ensure safety as the Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases both nationally and locally, Oakland parents and teachers are asking the Oakland Unified School District to provide weekly COVID-19 tests to all students and staff.
“I think that anyone who is going to be spending any extended period of time in a school site should be tested,” said Megan Bumpus, a fifth-grade teacher at Reach Academy, and a parent to two students at another OUSD elementary school.
Last week, two students in her class tested positive for COVID-19. Since these students sit next to each other in her classroom, she suspects the transmission happened at school. On August 16, in reaction to the positive cases, nursing staff came to her school to give all students in her class COVID tests. But Bumpus feels these tests should have happened earlier.
“If everybody had got tested right before the first day of school, I think we’d all be in a much better place,” she said.
Other OUSD community members agree with Bumpus and think testing should be expanded.
OUSD teacher and parent Olivia Udovic started a petition that asks for weekly COVID-19 testing at all district schools. It currently has over 1,500 signatures.
On the evening of August 6, the last weekday before the start of the OUSD school year, a crowd of about 20 people made up almost entirely of OUSD teachers, students, and staff protested outside of Board President Shanthi Gonzales’s home to demand expanded COVID-19 safety measures. Weekly COVID-19 testing at every school site was a key demand.
“In order to keep our families safe and let folks know what precautions they need to take, we need to know if there are positive cases,” said OUSD parent Mona Trevino at the protest. “If they make it impossible for us to get that information, we could have a lot of sick kids and parents on our hands.
The Oakland Post also received six e-mails forwarded to us from parents and/or OUSD teachers who had written to the school board asking for expanded COVID safety measures, including demands for weekly testing. Several pointed out that the Los Angeles Unified School District is both providing testing and requiring all school staff and students who participate in in-person schooling to be tested on a weekly basis for the virus.
When asked about COVID testing in Oakland schools, Gonzales wrote in an e-mail to The Oakland Post, “We are following guidance from the State Department of Public Health. As those guidelines change, we will continue to be responsive.” She also pointed out that OUSD has upgraded their ventilation systems, enforces masking requirements, and has upgraded contact tracing measures.
LAUSD tested 81% of staff and students just before their school year started. Of those tested, .8% of them, over 3,600 people, tested positive for COVID-19. Unlike LAUSD, OUSD is not proactively testing asymptomatic people unless they knowingly come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. But, when staff and students do get tested, OUSD is tracking positive cases in the district and releasing that data on a weekly basis.
According to data released on Monday morning, 58 students and 10 OUSD staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during the first week of school, which started August 9. The data lists Reach Academy as having four positive COVID cases, but Bumpus reports that by the end of the school day on Monday, two additional students tested positive.
The site with the highest number of positive cases, according to OUSD’s data, is Oakland High School, where 16 people tested positive and one classroom of students are not currently reporting to school, as the district asked them to go into a full at-home quarantine. A similar quarantine period is occurring with a classroom of students at Montclair Elementary School, where five people tested positive for the virus.
In reaction to the initial positive cases at Oakland High School, OUSD greatly expanded testing on the site, which led to more cases being discovered. Oakland High School music teacher David Byrd compared the situation at his school to a nuclear disaster, and suggested if testing were expanded, another school could also be revealed to be in such a dire situation.
“Oakland High School is the Chernobyl of the COVID outbreak in OUSD,” he wrote on Facebook on Monday. “But, if every other school were testing like us, another site would be the Fukushima.”
OUSD Director of Communications John Sasaki said that the district is already making COVID-19 tests available to students and staff.
“At-home rapid antigen tests will be available for pick-up at each school site for those who develop symptoms during the day, or if they have another reason to get tested, such as if they have been exposed or if they are unvaccinated,” Sasaki wrote in an email to The Oakland Post. Onsite testing is also available in 10 of the district’s 118 schools.
District 5 School Board Director Mike Hutchinson wrote a resolution that, if passed, would direct Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell to ensure that COVID-19 tests be offered on a weekly basis to all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status.
Language from the resolution points out that “federal and state funds have been provided to help school districts cover the cost of COVID testing.” Unlike the current policy in Los Angeles public schools, Hutchinson’s resolution would not require students to take weekly COVID tests.
It would only offer the tests and parents would have the option of opting their students out, unless public health guidelines change to recommend all students be required to be tested weekly, which is currently not the case on the county, state or national level.
Hutchinson introduced the resolution during the August 11 school board meeting, but board president Gonzales did not put it on the agenda, so the board did not vote on it.
In an e-mail written August 6 that responded to a concerned OUSD parent and teacher, District 1 School Board Director Sam Davis claimed he believed it was important for the district to take “a more proactive stance on testing.”
“There are already at-home test kits available at every school,” he wrote, “but I think we need to go a step further and have staff provide tests to students at every school site on a regular basis, so that we can catch cases before they turn into outbreaks.”
In an e-mail to The Oakland Post, Davis clarified that he believed “we only need widespread testing of students during periods of high incidence such as what we are experiencing now.”
The next OUSD school board meeting is August 25. Unless an emergency meeting is announced, that would be the next time Hutchinson’s resolution requiring COVID-19 testing be offered on a weekly basis could be voted on.
In the meantime, Bumpus is still worried about COVID-19 spreading in OUSD schools through people having COVID-19 while not being aware that they are carrying the virus.
“Having to focus on this right now is awful. I can barely focus on lesson planning,” said Bumpus. “When it comes to testing, it doesn’t feel right not to air on the side of caution.”
The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.
Community
Golden State Valkyries Become Bay Area Legends Winning WNBA Championship on Halloween Night
In only their second year as a franchise, the Golden State Valkyries captured the 2026 WNBA Championship with a 68-63 victory over the Atlanta Dream. Playing before a sold-out crowd at Chase Center on Halloween night, Gabby Williams delivered a historic 30-point performance to earn Finals MVP honors. The victory marks a rapid rise for the expansion team, which has already set league attendance records and surpassed a $1 billion valuation. Fans gathered by the hundreds of thousands this week to celebrate the new Bay Area legends, read more.
In only their second year as a franchise, the Golden State Valkyries became the WBNA 2026 Champions, with Gabby Williams named WNBA Finals MVP. A Halloween night movie of magic and there was no surprise that the game was sold out, with more than 18,000 fans inside Chase Center while thousands more packed the open space at Thrive Center from hours preceding the game through the final buzzer.
In the decisive Game 7, Williams delivered a legendary performance, scoring 30 points to lead the Golden State Valkyries to a 68-63 championship victory over the Atlanta Dream. Remarkably, 28 of her 30 points came in the second half, setting a WNBA postseason record for points in a half and earning her Finals MVP honors.
The team celebrated its victory on Wednesday with a rally in Oakland followed by a ferry ride to San Francisco’s Embarcadero and then a two-mile parade that drew about 400,000 fans.
Williams has become a symbol of the Bay Area’s impact on the team. Although born in Nevada, Williams has deep family roots in Oakland and has often said the city’s culture, community, and basketball traditions shaped her identity and playing style.
After signing with the Valkyries, she began calling the city home and noting that “there’s no Golden State without Oakland.”
The Valkyries have several ballers who made an impact on winning this series, including Veronica Burton, Tiffany ‘Tip’ Hayes, Kayla Thornton, Kaila Charles, and Cecilia Zandalasini.
Veteran center Kiah Stokes brought championship experience and defensive leadership when she signed a multi-year free-agent contract with the franchise on April 13. A former first-round draft pick out of UConn and a three-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces before joining Golden State, Stokes was recruited by head coach Natalie Nakae, with whom she had previously worked in Las Vegas.
Known as one of the league’s premier rim protectors and rebounders, Stokes quickly became a defensive anchor for the expansion franchise and played a major role in leading the Valkyries to their historic championship run.
The Valkyries have accomplished something extraordinary, proving that a new franchise can make an immediate impact both on and off the court. In their first year, the Valkyries became the first WNBA expansion team to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season and set all-time league attendance records. The franchise sold out all home games, reporting 18,064 attendees per game in both seasons — the highest attendance figures in WNBA history. The Valkyries’ success has also translated into extraordinary franchise value. After entering the league by paying a $50 million expansion fee, the organization generated record revenues and rapidly became one of the most valuable franchises in women’s sports, valued at over $! billion.
The WNBA Finals’ deciding game averaged 3.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA playoff game in league history and the most-watched finals game since 1999.
The record audience reflects the league’s growing popularity and has major implications for its future, including higher media rights value, increased advertising revenue, stronger sponsorship opportunities, rising merchandise sales, and greater ticket demand.
The Finals also featured sold-out arenas and record postseason viewership, demonstrating that the WNBA is expanding its commercial reach, attracting new fans, and strengthening its position as a major professional sports league.
Black History
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi Honors local ‘Women of the Year’ at Annual Awards Ceremony
Congressman John Garamendi recently honored 52 remarkable women during his 13th annual Women of the Year ceremony in Benicia. The event recognized leaders from California’s 8th District for their significant contributions to public service, education, business, and community life. The honorees, including 16 women from West Contra Costa County, were officially commemorated in the Congressional Record for their dedication to the region. The diverse group includes veterans, educators, and community advocates who have shaped the local landscape through decades of service. Read more about these influential leaders.
Sixteen women from West Contra Costa County were among 52 honorees recognized by Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-08) at his 13th annual Women of the Year ceremony in Benicia on Oct. 23.
The 2026 honorees from Solano and Contra Costa counties were recognized for contributions to public service, education, business and community life.
“Every year, I’m honored to recognize the remarkable women of California’s Eighth District who serve as the backbone of our community,” Garamendi said.
Their contributions were also recognized in the Congressional Record. The following profiles summarize the ceremony remarks and supporting biographies.
Richmond
King-Meredith was honored for six decades of community service. An engineer and project manager whose professional career included defense-industry work, she has served organizations including the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council and Shields-Reid Neighborhood Council. Her contributions also include environmental justice advocacy and artwork addressing social injustice.
Bolds was recognized for supporting Richmond youth and families and organizing community events. She established the annual “Put the Guns Down” event about 20 years ago in response to neighborhood violence. Through her organization, Visions of Hope, she brings together families, service providers, community leaders and public safety partners to address bullying and violence prevention.
Martinez Luna was honored for her work supporting businesses and families along Richmond’s 23rd Street corridor. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, she became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. A longtime Rigo’s Auto Sales employee and secretary of the 23rd Street Merchants Association, she helps organize community events, supports immigration information forums and works with local partners on neighborhood concerns.
Dawkins-Padigela was recognized for her professional and community leadership. A U.S. Air Force veteran who served seven years as an aircraft mechanic, she later pursued graduate studies in marriage and family therapy and professional clinical counseling. As president of East Bay CAMFT, she supports professional education, networking and collaboration among mental health practitioners.
Padilla, a dean at Contra Costa College, was honored for advancing educational equity and student success. A Richmond High School graduate, she began her higher education at Contra Costa College before earning a bachelor’s degree in applied physics from UC Davis and a doctorate in neuroscience from UC Berkeley. She later returned to CCC to lead initiatives expanding opportunities for students pursuing STEM careers.
Milam was recognized for a public service career that began as a teenager with the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership. As crime prevention manager for the Richmond Police Department, she has worked with government and community partners on violence prevention and homelessness response. Her congressional tribute credits her with helping secure nearly $30 million for outreach, shelter, treatment, encampment resolution and pathways to housing.
Nmereole was honored for supporting immigrant communities, young people and elderly residents throughout Contra Costa County and the greater Bay Area. Her volunteer work includes GED tutoring, vocational nursing exam preparation, computer instruction and youth mentorship. She also helps immigrants navigate services and assists elderly residents with transportation, prescriptions and groceries.
Curl was recognized for more than two decades of service to Richmond, beginning with the city’s redevelopment agency. She became interim city manager in November 2021 and permanent city manager in April 2022 before retiring in 2026. Garamendi credited her with helping secure more than $300 million in grants for infrastructure, housing and education, strengthening city finances and helping Richmond exit the state auditor’s high-risk designation.
Community
Richmond Neighbors Put Pantry Power on the Map
Richmond Area Mutual Aid has released a new digital map identifying Little Free Food Pantries across the city to help residents combat rising grocery costs. These neighborhood outposts operate on a mutual aid model, encouraging community members to leave shelf-stable goods and fresh produce for those in need. While some locations began as small pandemic-era projects, they have evolved into essential hubs supported by local families, retirees, and nonprofit organizations. Organizers are now seeking new hosts to expand this autonomous network further. Read more.
In Richmond, a small cabinet can carry a big message: dinner is here, no questions asked. Richmond Area Mutual Aid (RAMA) has created a map of current Little Free Food Pantries across the city. The neighborhood outposts encourage anyone to take what they need and leave what they can.
The map connects residents with pantries that may be as simple as a shelf, box or cabinet outside a home or business. According to RAMA’s website, the spaces can hold shelf-stable groceries and fresh produce that can safely spend some time outside refrigeration. The operating principle is as clear as the group’s motto: “Give what you can, take what you need.”
One of the map’s sites is near 34th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, where Achala Jayagoda and her family host a pantry that began as a Little Free Food Table during the pandemic. Her son, Eagle, founded it. The pantry has since grown into a lasting neighborhood resource. Amid the high cost of food, Jayagoda said supplies can disappear with startling speed.
“It continues to serve the community with everyone’s support,” Jayagoda toldTthe Richmond Standard. She said the people who contribute are not only nearby neighbors, but donors from elsewhere in Richmond and, at times, beyond the city. A few nonprofit organizations pitch in, too.
Jayagoda has also heard from retirees who collect end-of-day giveaways from grocery stores and bakeries and bring them to the pantry. Sometimes the deliveries include fresh food. At first concerned about leaving perishables out, she said it turns out those items move quickly. It’s a sign, in her view, of how urgently people need the help.
In fact, the pantry can be emptied within hours. Then the same community that uses it swings back into action. “Thankfully, the community helps restock it as quickly as possible so people can continue getting food,” Jayagoda said. As the holidays approach, she hopes that circle of giving will widen to reach more families.
RAMA describes itself on its website as a group of neighbors from Richmond and nearby communities working toward a place that is “safe, joyful and thriving.” The pantry project turns that broad aim into something concrete: a can of beans, a bag of rice, a loaf of bread—and a nearby place to share it.
Keeping each pantry going takes more than a sturdy box. RAMA’s website says every location needs an individual or organization willing to place the pantry on its property, and a team of stewards who can stock and clean it. A host may also serve as a steward. That local team is the point: RAMA wants each pantry to become an autonomous neighborhood hub supported over time by people who live nearby.
For residents ready to start one, RAMA says it can guide or support pantry construction and installation, share reclaimed food and help hosts adapt shelving or other materials into a workable setup. RAMA has announced free pantry build days Nov. 14 and Dec. 12; residents can email Richmondareamutualaid@proton.me for details.
Check out the Richmond pantry map below and get more information from RAMA at https://www.wegotusrichmond.org/pantries/. Visit RAMA on Instagram at @RichmondAreaMutualAid.
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