Oakland parents file lawsuit to keep their school open
Posted: 04/06/2012 05:57:58 PM PDT
Updated: 04/06/2012 05:57:59 PM PDT
OAKLAND -- Parents and students from Oakland's Santa Fe Elementary School have filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court to prevent the closure of their school.
Santa Fe is one of five Oakland elementary schools which the Oakland school board voted to close at the end of the school year as part of a plan to downsize the district. More than half of the 130-some students currently in grades K-4 were placed at Emerson or Sankofa, elementary schools about a mile away, according to Oakland Unified.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, from the firm Siegel & Yee, claim that the closure violates the rights of North Oakland African-American students to an equitable education; that the school board is wasting public money by closing the school, which recently underwent improvements; and that the school board failed to consider the cumulative impact of closing five schools in North Oakland during the last eight years.
Last week, the school board approved a plan to lease the Santa Fe building to the Emery Unified School District for $500,000 a year.
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Why isn't Emeryville using Ralph H, Emeryville's own school. It's good enough to rent to Piedmont? What's wrong with using it for our own children?
ReplyDeleteAs a show of good form, Emeryville's school district should invite any misplaced children from Sante Fe to enroll at Anna Yates and to not be a party to children receiving an inequitable education as discussed in the lawsuit. Also, both, Sante Fe and Ralph Hawly schools are not suitable for the education of Emeryville's Highschoolers. Where's the equity in that?
ReplyDeleteIt would be a bad idea to use Hawley due to a lack of ANY athletic facilities. At this point they are going to put a HUGE burden on the Maintenance and Technology departments to get ready for next year.
ReplyDeleteBut, good old Emery, screwing up again, the location for school next year should have been figured out by the beginning of this school year. But once again, Emery leadership has no clue what it's doing and is doing everything last minute, as usual. So things will be rushed and nothing will get done right.