Oakland Students March in Protest of District's Proposed School Closures
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- Hundreds of Oakland Unified School District students walked out of class Friday as protests continue against the school board's decision earlier this week to close several schools.
At Oakland Technical High School, students held a rally in the morning before marching to district headquarters, urging the board to reverse its decision.
"We demand that they appeal and reverse the vote because it is not essential that these schools close," said Oakland Tech student Zoe Lloyd Trotter. "Thousands of Black kids are getting ready to be displaced to save 1-4% OUSD's budget when they can just shut down that 1000 building on Broadway."
Georgia Wallace, an 11th grader, told KPIX 5, "I know that we're not wealthy, that we don't have the money that we need. However, this is a minuscule amount of the money that's actually needed to deal with the financial issues we're in."
"Shutting down schools, displacing Black and Brown youth. Splitting them up and ruining their lives is something that should be the last step," Wallace went on to say.
Following a nine-hour meeting late Tuesday, the board decided to close seven campuses, merge two others and cut grades from two more over the next two years. The district says it is facing a $90 million shortfall and without the moves it risks collapse or state intervention.