Oakland: School administrator closes 4 schools

Cites declining enrollment and poor academic performce

By Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News Service

March 1, 2007

OAKLAND (BCN) - Kimberly Stratham, the Oakland school district's state-appointed administrator, decided late Wednesday night to close four schools at the end of the school year in June because of a combination of declining enrollment and poor academic performance.

Stratham decided to accept the recommendations from her staff despite several hours of pleas from students, parents and teachers to keep the school open.

The schools that will be closed are East Oakland Community High School, Sherman Elementary School, Merritt Middle College High School and Kizmet Academy Middle School.

The school district also will take steps to improve the performance of 10 other schools that have been identified as having enrollment and academic issues.

School district spokesman Alex Katz said poor academic performance is a particular problem at East Oakland Community High School, where two-thirds of juniors aren't on track to graduate, only 1 percent of students are at their grade level on math tests and test scores have dropped 72 points in the last year.

He said the district wants to make sure that the school's students can get into schools and programs so they can graduate next year.

Katz said low enrollment is the main issue at Sherman Elementary.

He said Kizmet, which is located on the campus of McClymonds High School, has both enrollment and academic issues.

Katz said the problem with Merritt Middle College is that it will lose its space on the community college campus because of construction.

Teachers, parents and students at East Oakland Community High School marched 8 miles from the school's campus in the south Oakland hills to school district headquarters downtown to protest the closure.

Betty Olson Jones, the president of the Oakland Education Association, which represents the district's teachers, said, "There's a lot of anguish and frustration" about the district's plans to close the schools.

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