Community
Oakland School Board Votes Unanimously to Disband the OUSD Police Dept. Oakland School Board Votes Unanimously to Disband the OUSD Police Dept.
In a win for anti-police violence activists in Oakland, the Oakland School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to disband the OUSD Police Dept., committing to eliminate the department that has 20 sworn officers and 120 school resource officers.
The 7-0 vote followed a two-hour debate and several weeks of a campaign to cut the department led by the Black Organizing Project (BOP), a West Oakland-based group that has been organizing against police presence in Oakland schools since 2011.
The school board passed the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department, or the George Floyd Resolution for short, which calls for the board to disband OUSD police and reallocate the resources used on police to student support personnel like social workers, psychologists and restorative justice practitioners.
It also requires the district superintendent to launch a community-driven process to develop an alternative safety plan for the district that includes parents, students, teachers, BOP and other community partners.
The process must be launched by July 17, 2020, with a final plan to be adopted no later than December 31 of this year. OUSD spent more than $9.3 million on the school district’s police department between 2013 and 2018, according to the resolution.
According to BOP, Oakland’s school board is the first in the nation to move to disband its own police department. In May, the Minneapolis school district voted to cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Department, which was providing school resources officers for the district.
“We are overwhelmed with emotion and filled with gratitude for this historic win,” BOP said in a written statement Wednesday. “We thank the Board for taking this monumental step, and the Black youth and parents, and community and administrative partners who fought with us to make this possible.”
According to the resolution, during the 2015–2016 school year, Black students made up 26% of OUSD students but 73% of arrests. Since 2016, there have been over 9,000 calls to police made on students. This kind of institutionalized policing in schools “has extremely significant consequences, foreclosing opportunities toward graduation, college, and employment for Oakland’s Black youth,” the resolution states.
“[…] The perpetuation of the school-to-prison pipeline is incompatible with our goal of creating safe, healthy, and equitable schools for all District students,” it continues.
The vote by the school board comes a day after the Oakland City Council voted to keep the budget for the Oakland Police Dept. largely intact, voting 5-1 to cut OPD’s budget by $2.5 million for the next fiscal year by delaying the start of a police academy.
Activists had been calling for a much more significant $25 million reduction in OPD’s budget and a reallocation of resources to the community.
Protests have occurred consistently in Oakland over the past several weeks as calls to defund the police and scale back police responsibilities have gained traction in the Bay Area.
Across the bay in San Francisco, Mayor London Breed announced earlier this month that San Francisco police officers would no longer respond to calls for service on non-criminal matters like those involving mental health, homelessness, school discipline and neighbor disputes.
Community
As Part of Your Back-to- School Checklist, Vaccinate
POST NEWS GROUP — Vaccines protect your household and also limit the spread of diseases such as measles and polio. The higher the vaccination rate in a community, the greater the protection for everyone – especially the most vulnerable.
Berkeley Public Health recommends families catch up on immunizations before the new school year begins
Parents, check that your children return to school up to date on vaccinations. If necessary, schedule a visit with your family’s doctor or with the City of Berkeley’s Immunization Clinic to catch up.
Vaccines protect your household and also limit the spread of diseases such as measles and polio. The higher the vaccination rate in a community, the greater the protection for everyone – especially the most vulnerable.
Families are encouraged to:
- Check their child’s vaccination records. Ask their health care provider or check California’s Digital Vaccine Record portal.
- Schedule a check-up with your child’s doctor.
If your child doesn’t have a health care provider, you may be able to access free vaccinations through the City of Berkeley’s Immunization Clinic. Make an appointment by calling (510) 981-5350, emailing phmailbox@berkeleyca.gov, or booking online.
See what shots are required for pre-kindergarten or TK-12th grade, and check that your kids have all their recommended vaccines.
FREE VACCINE CLINICS AUG. 4-13
Children without health insurance or whose insurance doesn’t cover vaccines can get them for free:
City of Berkeley Immunization Clinic
West Berkeley Family Wellness Center
1900 Sixth St.
Hours: Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Closed 12 p.m.–1 p.m.
Make an appointment between Aug. 4–6 or Aug. 11–13 for back-to-school vaccine clinics:
- Call: (510) 981-5350
- Email: phmailbox@berkeleyca.gov
- Book online
Children 18 years and under are eligible for free City vaccines if they are:
- Medicaid-eligible
- Uninsured
- Underinsured (insurance does not cover vaccines)
- American Indian or Alaska Native
If you are unsure whether you or your child is up to date, the City of Berkeley Vaccination Clinic can help review records and provide recommended vaccines.
FAMILY WELLNESS RESOURCES
Vaccines are just one of the many public health services you can access at the West Berkeley Family Wellness Center. The center is home to the Women, Infants, and Children program, nutrition support, case management services, and a variety of family support services, plus free classes throughout the year.
Vaccinations aren’t just for kids. Throughout adult life, everyone should keep up with their vaccination needs. See recommended vaccines for adults.
Get a healthy start to the school year. Check your child’s vaccinations. Make an appointment with your doctor or get free vaccines at the City clinic.
VACCINE INFORMATION AND FAMILY RESOURCES
- City of Berkeley Immunization Clinic
- TK–12 school vaccine requirements:
- Family support services:
Get trusted information about the City of Berkeley by bookmarking berkeleyca.gov, subscribing to our newsletter, and following us on Bluesky and Instagram.
Community
As Part of Your Back-to- School Checklist, Vaccinate
POST NEWS GROUP — Vaccines protect your household and also limit the spread of diseases such as measles and polio. The higher the vaccination rate in a community, the greater the protection for everyone – especially the most vulnerable.
Berkeley Public Health recommends families catch up on immunizations before the new school year begins
Parents, check that your children return to school up to date on vaccinations. If necessary, schedule a visit with your family’s doctor or with the City of Berkeley’s Immunization Clinic to catch up.
Vaccines protect your household and also limit the spread of diseases such as measles and polio. The higher the vaccination rate in a community, the greater the protection for everyone – especially the most vulnerable.
Families are encouraged to:
- Check their child’s vaccination records. Ask their health care provider or check California’s Digital Vaccine Record portal.
- Schedule a check-up with your child’s doctor.
If your child doesn’t have a health care provider, you may be able to access free vaccinations through the City of Berkeley’s Immunization Clinic. Make an appointment by calling (510) 981-5350, emailing phmailbox@berkeleyca.gov, or booking online.
See what shots are required for pre-kindergarten or TK-12th grade, and check that your kids have all their recommended vaccines.
FREE VACCINE CLINICS AUG. 4-13
Children without health insurance or whose insurance doesn’t cover vaccines can get them for free:
City of Berkeley Immunization Clinic
West Berkeley Family Wellness Center
1900 Sixth St.
Hours: Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Closed 12 p.m.–1 p.m.
Make an appointment between Aug. 4–6 or Aug. 11–13 for back-to-school vaccine clinics:
- Call: (510) 981-5350
- Email: phmailbox@berkeleyca.gov
- Book online
Children 18 years and under are eligible for free City vaccines if they are:
- Medicaid-eligible
- Uninsured
- Underinsured (insurance does not cover vaccines)
- American Indian or Alaska Native
If you are unsure whether you or your child is up to date, the City of Berkeley Vaccination Clinic can help review records and provide recommended vaccines.
FAMILY WELLNESS RESOURCES
Vaccines are just one of the many public health services you can access at the West Berkeley Family Wellness Center. The center is home to the Women, Infants, and Children program, nutrition support, case management services, and a variety of family support services, plus free classes throughout the year.
Vaccinations aren’t just for kids. Throughout adult life, everyone should keep up with their vaccination needs. See recommended vaccines for adults.
Get a healthy start to the school year. Check your child’s vaccinations. Make an appointment with your doctor or get free vaccines at the City clinic.
VACCINE INFORMATION AND FAMILY RESOURCES
- City of Berkeley Immunization Clinic
- TK–12 school vaccine requirements:
- Family support services:
Get trusted information about the City of Berkeley by bookmarking berkeleyca.gov, subscribing to our newsletter, and following us on Bluesky and Instagram.
Commentary
OPINION: The Philippines Isn’t Foreign When Your Family Still Lives There
Americans complain about inflation. Filipinos complain about surviving. That’s not a knock on America. It’s a reminder that for millions of Filipino Americans, the Philippines isn’t some faraway place we visit on vacation. It’s where our parents were born. Where our cousins still
Americans complain about inflation.
Filipinos complain about surviving.
That’s not a knock on America. It’s a reminder that for millions of Filipino Americans, the Philippines isn’t some faraway place we visit on vacation. It’s where our parents were born. Where our cousins still live. Where grandparents are buried. Where every phone call home can begin with, “We’re okay,” or, just as easily, “We need help.”
The Bay Area is home to one of the nation’s largest Filipino communities. California alone has nearly two million Filipinos—roughly half of all Filipino Americans in the United States.
Every year, Filipino Americans send an estimated $17 billion from the United States to the Philippines. Those remittances account for roughly a tenth of the Philippine economy. One wire transfer may keep children in school, put food on the table, pay hospital bills, or help elderly parents make it another month.
That’s why Filipino Americans were paying attention to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address this week.
They were listening for justice.
They were listening for Lyle Prijoles.
Prijoles, a 40-year-old Filipino American from Hayward, was killed on April 19 during a Philippine military operation in Negros Occidental. Also killed was Kai Sorem, a 26-year-old activist from Seattle.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines say those killed were connected to the Communist Party’s New People’s Army.
Their families say otherwise.
Human-rights advocates describe Prijoles and Sorem as labor organizers and peaceful activists working alongside sugar workers struggling under crushing poverty. Prijoles had traveled repeatedly to the Philippines since 2006, documenting conditions in Negros and advocating for farm workers whose lives rarely improve no matter who occupies the presidential palace in Manila.
Those conflicting stories are exactly why members of Congress, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7), have called for an independent investigation.
After all, two American citizens are dead.
If an ally’s military kills Americans under disputed circumstances, shouldn’t we want to know exactly what happened?
Yet the story barely made news in the United States.
Perhaps because it’s inconvenient.
It’s inconvenient for Manila – and Washington.
Strategic allies aren’t supposed to kill American citizens.
The Philippines isn’t just another country.
It’s family.
President Marcos had bigger issues on his mind this week.
China’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea dominated much of the speech. Marcos rightly rejected racist insults aimed at Filipinos and insisted his country would not surrender its sovereignty.
“We are not racists. We are not liars,” Marcos declared. “We are respectful, and we are dignified. We are Filipinos, and we do not yield.”
Strong words.
But patriotism isn’t measured only by how forcefully a government stands up to China.
It’s also measured by how a government treats its own people.
The Philippines inherited many of America’s democratic institutions. Even the “State of the Nation Address” echoes our “State of the Union.” Congress. Elections. Constitutional government. We exported the architecture of democracy.
What we couldn’t export was accountability.
That’s why activists like Lyle Prijoles believed ordinary workers deserved better.
And that’s why his death matters.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist, political analyst and comic monologist. See him on his microtalk show on YouTube at @emilamok1.
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As Part of Your Back-to- School Checklist, Vaccinate
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