Activism

OUSD School Board Approves Black Organizing Project’s School Safety Plan

Published

5 years ago

December 10, 2020

Kiki

Black Organizing Project Organizing Director Jessica Black speaks outside of MetWest High School announcing the People’s Plan in November 2020. Photo courtesy of Black Organizing Project

Oakland’s School Board voted on Wednesday to pass a resolution to implement Phase 1 of a reasonable compliance safety plan, a plan Black Organizing Project, Oakland Unified School Department staff, and community partners formulated to deal with school safety without police presence.

The unanimous vote came after Black Organizing Project (BOP), who describes itself as a “Black member-led community organization working for racial, social, and economic justice,” organized for 10 years. Their goal was to eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department (OSPD), which works exclusively in OUSD schools. On June 24 of this year, Oakland’s School Board voted to dismantle the department when they passed the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the OSPD.

With its Phase 1 plan, BOP is preparing for when OSPD is completely eliminated and in-person schooling starts. The plan outlines alternatives to police intervention for most behavioral issues that result in school settings. OUSD teachers, union representatives, principals, school administrators and public health experts helped to design it. Part of the plan proposes that mental health professionals deal with mental health issues instead of police.

When asked why the plan proposes that health professionals deal with mental health crises, BOP Organizing Director Jessica Black said “it’s better to have people who are trained, skilled, professionals who deal with people’s mental health than to have people who are trained to look for suspects and kill people.”

In anticipation of Wednesday’s vote, BOP organized a week of action, calling on the community to post videos on social media in support of police-free schools, contact board members directly to encourage them to support the safety plan, and prepare public comments for the meeting. During the meeting, community members spoke out in support of BOP’s plan.

BOP is happy that Phase 1 of their safety plan has been adopted by the Board but wants OUSD to remove the remaining OSPD officers and the Chief as soon as possible, as the District has not stuck to the original timeline for police removal that the George Floyd Resolution originally set.

“The goal is to have police off campus,” said BOP Organizing Director Jessica Black. “But we feel the community was undermined because they were supposed to be out now, not later.”

OUSD has extended OSPD Chief Jeff Godown’s contract by 90 days. OSPD officer’s contracts are set to expire on January 11, 2021. Through the George Floyd Resolution, the Board instructed OUSD to terminate these positions by December 31 of this year.

In an interview with The Oakland Post, District 5 Board Director Roseann Torres, who helped write the George Floyd Resolution, said directly terminating OSPD officers and the chief were “not within the board’s purview” as the terminations require action from OUSD, not the board. Torres speculated that the process has been delayed by the pandemic.

The District said it needs more time to eliminate the department.

“The District is well on the way to eliminating the police department, but there are parameters within which the District must work to complete this task,” said OUSD Communications Director John Sasaki when asked why OSPD has not been shut down yet. “A police department, even one the relatively small size of the Oakland Schools Police Department, cannot be shut down overnight.”

BOP also wants more community involvement in dealing with safety in schools, including input from teachers and students and plans to include that involvement in Phase 2 of their safety plan.

“Instead of top down we need [school safety] to come from the bottom up,” said Black. “We are the ones who keep us safe, and it’s going to take the parents, the students, the teachers, the community members and administrators to make it work.”

Kiki

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.