News

District Restarts School Kitchen Project

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2018

Rendering of the central kitchen, urban farm and education center.

An Oakland Unified School District state-of-the art industrial kitchen project capable of producing 35,000 school lunches a day is getting underway again after a dispute among contractors shut down the project for over a year.

The 40,000-square-foot kitchen, classrooms and green house, which will be built at site of the old Oakland Marcus Foster Elementary School at 29th and West streets in West Oakland, was originally approved in May 2016 under the administration of then Superintendent Antwan Wilson.

Once completed, the central kitchen will distribute fresh food to finishing kitchens at schools throughout the district.

In March of last year, “with no finding of fault,” the school board terminated the contract with joint venture developers Thompson Builders of Novato and Eclipse Electric and Digital Design Communications of Oakland.

“It’s a beautiful project, but we had some major issues unfold in the joint in the joint venture group. This has been going on for…the duration of the project,” said Boardmember James Harris in an interview last year with the East Bay Times.

The project has a projected cost of $53 million from Measure J and Measure B school bond funds. The former contractors received a total of $4.9 million for work already done and to settle costs for early termination of the agreeement, according to the district.

The district had to pay some additional expenses in the process of dissolving the original joint venture agreement, according to the district. At press time, the Post had not been able to obtain the extra cost to the district for terminating the agreement.

A new joint venture includes general contractor Overaa Construction, with offices in Richmond San Jose and Oakland, as well as Tulum Electrical and Eclipse Electrical.
Work on the project began two weeks ago and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2019.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 8 – 14, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May May 8 – 14, 2024

Published

5 days ago

May 10, 2024

Oakland Post

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S.F. Black Leaders Rally to Protest, Discuss ‘Epidemic’ of Racial Slurs Against Black Students in SF Public School System

Parents at the meeting spoke of their children as no longer feeling safe in school because of bullying and discrimination. Parents also said that reported incidents such as racial slurs and intimidation are not dealt with to their satisfaction and feel ignored.

Published

1 week ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Rev. Amos C. Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP and pastor of Third Baptist Church. Photo courtesy Third Baptist Church.

By Carla Thomas

San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church hosted a rally and meeting Sunday to discuss hatred toward African American students of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

Rev. Amos C. Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP and pastor of Third Baptist Church, along with leadership from local civil rights groups, the city’s faith-based community and Black community leadership convened at the church.

“There has been an epidemic of racial slurs and mistreatment of Black children in our public schools in the city,” said Brown. “This will not be tolerated.”

According to civil rights advocate Mattie Scott, students from elementary to high school have reported an extraordinary amount of racial slurs directed at them.

“There is a surge of overt racism in the schools, and our children should not be subjected to this,” said Scott. “Students are in school to learn, develop, and grow, not be hated on,” said Scott. “The parents of the children feel they have not received the support necessary to protect their children.”

Attendees were briefed last Friday in a meeting with SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne.

SFUSD states that their policies protect children and they are not at liberty to publicly discuss the issues to protect the children’s privacy.

Some parents said they have removed their students from school while other parents and community leaders called on the removal of the SFUSD superintendent, the firing of certain school principals and the need for more supportive school board members.

Community advocates discussed boycotting the schools and creating Freedom Schools led by Black leaders and educators, reassuring parents that their child’s wellbeing and education are the highest priority and youth are not to be disrupted by racism or policies that don’t support them.

Virginia Marshall, chair of the San Francisco NAACP’s education committee, offered encouragement to the parents and students in attendance while also announcing an upcoming May 14 school board meeting to demand accountability over their mistreatment.

“I’m urging anyone that cares about our students to pack the May 14 school board meeting,” said Marshall.

This resource was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library via California Black Media as part of the Stop the Hate Program. The program is supported by partnership with California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.