By Ken Epstein

Split 3-3, the Oakland School Board deadlocked on a district budget proposal containing program cuts, layoffs, school mergers and closures on Tuesday night.

The budget, which was rushed to the school board only 24 hours after it was released, was backed by Oakland Unified School District Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell and Board President Mike Hutchinson.

Board members voted on two resolutions: the first was to give Johnson-Trammell the authority to make cuts and consolidate schools; the second was to give the required legal March 15 notice to allow staff to be laid off.

On the first resolution, board members voting in favor of the cuts were Hutchinson and Clifford Thompson. Sam Davis abstained. Voting ‘no’ were VanCedric Williams, Jennifer Brouhard, and Valarie Bachelor. On the second resolution, Hutchinson, Davis and Thompson supported the layoffs while Williams, Brouhard, and Bachelor voted against them.

Though the school district has a budget surplus, the proposed budget contains about 100 layoffs of classified workers, program cuts at schools, a hiring freeze and mergers or closures of 10 schools. Supporters claim these cuts are necessary in order to provide teachers and other school employees raises this year.

In a statement, the teachers’ union – the Oakland Education Association  (OEA) – opposed the budget proposal:

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“It is completely disingenuous to present these cuts as necessary to fund a raise for educators and school employees,” the union said. “OUSD got $54 million in new state funding this year. Neighboring districts have already agreed to large raises without cuts or school closures.”

Union leader Kampala Taiz-Rancifer said on Facebook that the proposed “adjustments are cuts!” and “mergers are closures!”

She continued: “Cutting 100 jobs? There are no OEA members that want a raise on the backs of other workers or on the backs of students. Whoever thinks this is a good idea is disgusting.”

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the board seemed to go into closed session for hours as members attempted to resolve their differences over the budget proposals. (Discussion of the budget in closed session potentially could be a violation of the Brown Act, which requires meeting to be held in public.)

After the meeting, Hutchinson bemoaned the failure of the budget plan to pass.

“I’m extremely frustrated and deeply disappointed,” he said on Facebook. “OUSD was preparing to give a historic raise to OEA. Now because of some questionable advocacy, and directors flip-flopping and changing their votes at the last minute, the school board did not approve any budget adjustments before the March 15 statutory deadline to notice employees.

“This now means that OUSD has no resources to offer OEA a salary increase,” he continued. “I hope the folks responsible for this mess are held accountable.”

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