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Oakland Unified to lease additional space to area charter schools

Lakeview Elementary is one of two vacant campuses newly approved for lease by the Oakland Unified School District. The charter school AIMS College Prep High School will occupy the campus for the next two years.
DANIEL ARAUZ
/
Flickr
Lakeview Elementary on Grand Avenue is one of two vacant campuses newly approved for lease by the Oakland Unified School District. The charter school AIMS College Prep High School will occupy the former Lakeview campus for the next two years.

The Oakland Unified School District board greenlit additional leases and classroom space to four charter schools last week.

California’s Prop 39 requires the district to share public school facilities with all enrolled students, including charter school attendees upon request. Charter schools are independent state-funded public schools, managed by outside boards and organizations.

Oakland Unified currently has 16 active leases with area charter schools – many on the former campuses of shuttered public schools. Two of the new leases will take over the vacant campuses of elementary schools closed by the district a decade ago. Other deals offer co-location, sharing classroom space and facilities at active school sites.

The new charter school agreements come just one month after Oakland announced the closure of seven public schools in the next year. Critics say accommodating new charter students could strain schools already planning to welcome displaced students next fall.

I am a researcher and writer from Oakland, CA. I cut my teeth in radio at my college station and since graduating, I’ve worked as a paralegal, arts administrator, maritime historian, and most recently, a fellow at WorldAffairs, a global politics radio show and podcast co-produced with KQED. In my work, I am interested in the intersections of race, climate, and labor rights as well as place-based narratives of marginalization and the relationship between local history, public space, and identity formation, especially among queer and BIPOC communities. I am also passionate about drawing on the performing arts—particularly theater and music—to develop interview/storytelling practices grounded in mutual repair and community-building.