Coming Together to Inform the Future
of Our District:
Notes from Our First Community Meeting on March 31st
Who We Are
We are a group of volunteers representing the various stakeholder groups of OUSD, with leadership from our district advisory committees. Our goal is to help our community shape how engagement and decision-making should look to inform the future of our district.
Our Goals for Spring 2026
- Identify the conditions for a meaningful and unified engagement process in support of Phase 4 of OUSD's Financial Stabilization Plan and identify criteria to guide construction of the process.
- Work with OUSD leadership to clarify the key questions that the Fall 2026 engagement process will seek to answer and the key goals that must be achieved.
A Summary From Our March 31 Meeting
On March 31st, we focused on the first of the two goals we set for this Spring.
WHO CAME
Approximately 50 community members gathered at the Santa Fe Campus. 31 entry surveys were collected at the start of the meeting. The goal of the entry survey was to gather basic information about participants.
Responses showed representation from all seven electoral districts in OUSD. About 40% of the persons who responded identified as White. Seven families identified as parents of Disabled students, two named specific learning disabilities and two named developmental disabilities. Three parents of English Learner students filled out the survey. They were all Spanish-speaking.
We hope to achieve near 100% participation in this entry survey to better track how well we are reaching the diverse members of our OUSD community.
WHAT WE DID Link to the Agenda with Supporting Documents
Two members of the OUSD Parent and Student Advisory Committee facilitated the meeting.
The Superintendent welcomed community members and explained the four phases of the OUSD financial stabilization plan. Three panelists shared their experiences and lessons from past district-wide engagement processes.
Attendees took part in small and large group discussions, where they spoke about their hopes and fears for community engagement during Phase 4 of the OUSD financial stabilization plan.
WHAT WE SAID
The discussions produced honest and substantive comments. The clearest message from both the discussions and the surveys was that trust requires a feedback loop. This means: reflecting back to participants what has been done with the suggestions that they have shared with decision-makers. Participants need evidence that what they said was heard, and that it is being actively considered and integrated into the solutions that are crafted.
HOW WE FELT
The energy was strong and the engagement was genuine. Enthusiasm for the event was expressed out loud and in exit surveys.
12 participants completed the exit surveys. Survey responses were overwhelmingly positive. All respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the meeting met its goals and that they felt heard. Participants praised the volunteer-led and transparent approach.
There were requests for targeted outreach to specific groups to achieve wider participation. A few suggestions related to the location, timing, resources, and process of the meeting.
Future meetings will set aside time to reflect back to participants what they shared in the surveys and discussions, and how their suggestions were used. We will also develop a tracking tool for participants to find out how their suggestions have been considered and used.
Future Meetings
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 at 6pm (Zoom Meeting)
Zoom Link: https://ousd.zoom.us/j/83379867209 By Phone: 1-669-900-9128
This meeting will repeat the content and activities from the March 31 meeting
for people who cannot attend in person.
THURSDAY, MAY 7 at 6pm (Multilingual Zoom Meeting) Please note the date change from May 6th.
Zoom Link: https://ousd.zoom.us/j/83973909219 By Phone: 1-669-900-9128
Participants who do not speak English will have greater access to dialogue in their own language. This meeting will also repeat the content and activities from the March 31 meeting.
We are gathering resources for this meeting. We aim to offer small group discussions in the 4 major languages (other than English) spoken in OUSD: Spanish, Arabic, Mam, and Cantonese.
MONDAY, JUNE 1 at 6pm (In-Person Meeting; Location Pending)
The goal of this meeting is to help define the key questions and goals that will guide the Fall 2026 engagement process.
How to Communicate With Our Planning Group
If you have any questions about our group and efforts, would like to help and get involved, or simply want to stay in the loop, please send us a message at engage@ousd-mseg.org.
We look forward to hearing from you!