The Fight to Save Howard Elementary School’s Classrooms
During Oakland’s next school board meeting, set to take place on June 12th at La Escuelita Elementary at 6pm, teachers and parents at Howard Elementary, a public school, plan to request that Oakland’s school board put a pause on offering rooms on its campus to Francophone Charter School of Oakland (FCSO).
“This is our final chance to put a hold on this takeover,” said Brandi Owens, a resource specialist assistant at Howard who teaches students with learning disabilities and special needs in small group and one on one settings.
If FCSO moves into rooms on Howard’s campus, Owens, who now has her own room, will have to move into the staff lounge, which she’ll share with four other teachers, all of whom work with students with learning disabilities.
Owens is concerned for her students as FCSO’s move would necessitate Howard adapting a schedule that forces multiple Howard special education teachers to teach different subjects to different students in the same room and at the same time. While such a learning environment could be difficult for many students, Owens thinks it will be especially hard for her students.
“It’s already hard for them to concentrate in class as it is,” said Owens. “It’s going to be even more difficult for them with everything else going on in the room.”
Natalie Carillo, whose son studies with Ms Owens, is happy with the improvements in reading he’s achieved this year but worries that next year will be more difficult for him.
“When I put myself in his shoes I feel bad,” said Carillo. “He can get distracted really easily.”
By offering FCSO space on Howard’s campus, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) claims it is following the legal requirements under proposition 39 that forces them to offer space to charter schools that California law deems underused by public schools. Though Howard teachers are using every room in the school, the school is under-enrolled as determined by legal quotas, so OUSD claims that state law requires that space at Howard be offered to a charter.
Since nothing in proposition 39 requires that charter schools accept offers to use public school space, Howard teachers and parents tried to convince the FCSO school board to reject OUSD’s offer. They attended FCSO board meetings and gave public comments trying to dissuade FCSO from participating in a takeover, but FCSO has voted to accept OUSD’s offer.
Still, Howard teachers and parents are continuing their fight to stop the takeover. They’ve drafted a resolution to Oakland’s school board that questions the legality of making the proposition 39 offer when it would disproportionally harm students with disabilities, who have special protections under federal ADA laws.
“Twenty percent of Howard’s students are identified with special needs, which requires one-on-one therapy and adequate space for small group intervention,” states the resolution. “By federal law, special education students are entitled to an appropriate placement.”
I see the fight to keep Howard’s classrooms as a fight against racialized gentrification as FCSO’s move would displace many students of color. While 62% of Howard’s students are Black, only 24% of FCSO’s students are. And while 41% of FSCO’s students are white, only 4% of Howard’s students are.
Howard teachers and parents are calling on supporters of public education to show up during the next school board meeting on June 12th, at 6 pm, to help amplify their message.
“The charter schools are coming in and trying to kick us out of our classrooms where our kids need the extra support,” said Owens. “We want to fight back. We want to keep our students learning and we need the space.”