Cutting to the bone at OUSD's central office

"On Dec. 10, the Oakland Unified School District board must vote on a plan to reduce its budget by $100 million or risk another county or state takeover. This fall, the school board directed district staff to come up with a plan that would largely rely on shrinking the district's central office, improving student enrollment and attendance, and freezing contracts. The board's goal was to keep cuts away from school sites."

"At this Wednesday's board meeting, interim superintendent Denise Saddler will introduce two new scenarios. These proposals, shared publicly on Sunday evening, will result in $103 million in savings and include the deep cuts to the central office plus tens of millions of dollars in cuts at school sites. This analysis continues to affirm that single or combinations of cutting 'around' school spending will not yield the outcomes the District has struggled to achieve, Saddler wrote in the proposal."

Oakland Unified must cut $100 million by Dec. 10 to avoid a county or state takeover. Earlier plans focused on shrinking the central office, boosting enrollment and freezing contracts, aiming to spare school sites, but produced at most $21.8 million in savings. Interim superintendent Denise Saddler proposed two new scenarios totaling $103 million that add deep central-office reductions plus tens of millions in school-site cuts. The central office provides essential support to school leaders and operations, and its budget has remained roughly flat while school-site staffing costs more than doubled amid a 3,400-student enrollment decline over the past decade.

Read at The Oaklandside