April 29, 2026
Community Engagement Meeting
Interpretation ⇆ Interpretación
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We can see and hear everyone.
Please keep your sound turned off until you ask a question or make a comment.
Please raise your hand to participate.
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A Message about Language Access at this Meeting:
We will hold a multilingual meeting on May 7 with interpretation in languages other than Spanish.
We are organizing interpretation in Arabic, Cantonese, Mam, and Spanish for May 7.
سيكون لدينا شرح باللغة العربية في 7 مايو.
5月7日我們將提供中文翻譯。
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If you are listening to the meeting in Spanish
AND also choose to speak in Spanish, please
let us know by raising your hand right now.
You can also help us by renaming yourself on Zoom with ESP in front of your name. Example: ESP-Mayra Cárdenas
We will have small group conversations later in the meeting and will need you to assign you to a Spanish speaking room.
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Security
Instructions
Oakland Unified
School District
Multi-Stakeholder
Engagement Group
Who We Are
A group of volunteers representing the various stakeholder groups of OUSD, with leadership from our advisory committees. In collaboration with the OUSD community, our goal is to help shape how engagement and decision-making should look to inform the future of our district.
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Who We Are
Our planning group is currently made up of 3 parent leaders from the advisory committees, 1 classroom teacher, 1 school classified staff, 1 principal, 1 central engagement staff, 1 central financial services staff, and the two Board liaisons to the advisory committees.
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Planning Group Volunteers
Matt Glaser, PSAC Parent Leader
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Parent Leader
JD Woloshyn, CAC Parent Leader
Carrie Anderson, Teacher
Nidya Báez, Principal
Trish Belenson, Classified Staff
Cintya Molina, Central Engagement Staff
Troy Christmas, Central Financial Services Staff
Rachel Latta, CAC Board Liaison
Jennifer Brouhard, PSAC Board Liaison
Our Agreements
For Tonight
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
| One microphone | Take space; make space |
Honor the agenda | Tough on problems; easy on people | |
Speak to Be Understood | Listen to understand | Offer solutions |
Our Goals
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
These were also the goals for our March 31st in-person meeting. This is another opportunity for our community participate in this stage of our process.
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Our Program
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
6-6:20 | Welcome, Instructions, Agreements, Goals, Agenda, Registration |
6:20-6:30 | Introduction: The 4 Phases of OUSD's Financial Stabilization Plan Superintendent Welcome |
6:30-6:55 | Introduction: Meaningful Community Engagement Personal Experience Panel: Dialogue about the Conditions for Meaningful Community Engagement with Participants in Past District Engagement Processes |
7:05-7:35 | Small Group Conversations: Hopes and Fears about the Phase 4 Engagement Process |
7:40-8:00 | Share Out from Small Groups Share Out What We Heard on March 31st |
8:00-8:05 | Exit Survey, Announcements, Closing |
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Registration
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
Please help us track participation in these important community meetings by filling out the sign-in sheet for tonight.
In English: forms.gle/qUaiBbJFFD1Ra7TDA
In Spanish: forms.gle/wHkwkzMw9keC1giU7
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We will add a raffle to our June 1st meeting.
Those who fill out the sign-in sheet will be entered into the raffle.
We promise good prizes 😁.
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We will use your contact information to send you A VERY IMPORTANT ANONYMOUS QUESTIONNAIRE.
The questionnaire will allow us to learn about the lived experience and identities of participants in these meetings.
It will help us to understand who we are reaching and not yet reaching.
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The 4 Phases of OUSD's Financial Stabilization Plan:
An Overview
Matt Glaser, PSAC Lead
6:20-6:23 3 minutes
OUSD is embarking on a multi-year effort to fix
our district's budget and to keep local control and oversight of our schools.
This financial stabilization plan consists of four major phases that run from late 2025 into 2027-28 and beyond.
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We began the school year with a projected $100 million budget deficit for 2026-27.
The Board brought in outside experts to clarify where the district’s finances stand.
The district acted to restore the reserve that is required by the State. This included things such as hiring freezes and pauses on spending.
They filed a qualified First Interim budget report to the County. A qualified certification means that OUSD must take clear actions to balance the budget moving forward.
Phase
One
Stabilize
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The district brought staffing back in line with what it can currently afford.
They offered retirement incentives, and cut positions that were vacant or that were paid by grants that were set to end.
They implemented over $64 million in reductions while maintaining specific areas of spending based on a set of adopted priorities.
On February 26, the Board voted for layoffs to implement the reductions.
Phase
Two
Realign
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State law requires every school district to pass a balanced budget by June 30.
This phase takes everything from Phases 1 & 2 and turns it into the budget that will be adopted for the 2026-27 school year.
It adapts the budget based on new information with knowledge of the actual dollars that we will receive from the State after the release of the May Revise.
Phase
Three
Repair
This is where
OUSD is now.
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Starting now for 2027-28, our community has a chance to step back and ask bigger questions:
How should OUSD be organized? What should it look like going forward? What do Oakland families actually want from their district and schools?
The focus of our engagement is to bring community voices into the conversation so that the Board and district administrators hear directly from the people they serve as they shape what comes next.
Phase
Four
Rebuild
This is where our work comes in.
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PSAC's Four Questions:
A Starting Point for
The Work of Rebuilding
Matt Glaser, PSAC Lead
6:23-6:25 2 minutes
Four Foundational Questions Posed by the
Parent & Student Advisory Committee in January of 2025
Excerpt from the 1/8/25 Report to the OUSD School Board:
… we understand that everyone in OUSD must have the following overarching conversations to be able to address the financial challenges of our district:
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Four Foundational Questions Posed by the
Parent & Student Advisory Committee in January of 2025
3. How many schools should OUSD operate, of what kind, of what minimum or maximum size, and where? What should be our landscape of schools? What combination of schools would best serve OUSD students? [This conversation also includes the use of vacant facilities.]
4. How could we generate additional resources for our students?
The description of Phase 4 presented by staff directly connects to these questions that PSAC has been posing and addressing through its meetings and communications.
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Superintendent's
Welcome
Denise Saddler, Interim Superintendent
6:25-6:30 5 minutes
What Do We Mean By "Meaningful Community Engagement?"
Cintya Molina, Program Manager,
District Advisory Committees &
LCAP Engagement
6:35-6:40 5 minutes
Meaningful community engagement is an inclusive, transparent, and empowering process built on trust, sustained relationships, and shared power.
It requires co-creating solutions, ensuring shared benefit, and providing accessible, ongoing, and culturally respectful opportunities for input that directly influences outcomes.
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Initial Criteria
for Meaningful
Community Engagement
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1. INCLUSIVITY & EQUITY: Actively involving diverse participants, particularly those often overlooked, and addressing language and other obstacles to participation.
What are some specific ways in which we can build an inclusive and equitable process?
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2. TRANSPARENCY & TRUST: Maintaining clear, honest communication and providing feedback loops that show how input was incorporated.
What are some specific ways in which we can foster transparency and trust?
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3. SHARED POWER & DECISION-MAKING:
Moving beyond informing the community to engaging
in co-design.
What are some specific ways in which this process can ensure that power is shared and that the community can engage in co-design?
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4. SUSTAINABILITY & COMMITMENT:
Building long-term, sustained relationships rather than one-off consultations.
What are some specific ways to ensure that our process is sustainable and that it can build long-standing relationships?
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5. ACCESSIBILITY & FLEXIBILITY: Hosting meetings at convenient times and locations, using clear language, and offering diverse ways to engage.
What are some specific ways in which our process can be accessible and flexible?
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Essential Questions
for Building this
Process
Adapted from thesocialchangeagency.org/resources/community-engagement-earned-legitimacy/
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1. Purpose What is it that you are trying to achieve? Why will community engagement be important? | 3. Context What is the historical context that you are working in, both as related to this work or to the wider experiences of community members? |
2. Who Who in the community do you need to engage? Do they have lived experience of the issue(s)? Who will be easy to reach? Who will be difficult to reach? Who else could or should be involved? | 4. Pain Points What concerns might community members have? Are there any reasons it might be difficult to collaborate? What tensions might need to be addressed? |
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5. Project Goals What will you count as evidence of success? | 6. Community Goals What will success look like? What will count as evidence of success for different segments of your community? |
7. Shared Goals
What is the shared common goal which will unite people and lead to a sense of shared success?
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8. Resources What resources do you have available? Staff, networks, money, time, etc.? Are there any gaps? | 9. Communications How will you keep community members informed in the lead up to, during, and after this project? What information must you share? How will community members communicate with you before, during, and after this project? | 10. Meaningful Engagement How will you engage community members in a meaningful way? How will you provide opportunities for community members to get to know each other? How will you build trust with and among community members? How will you reach those who are most difficult to reach? |
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Personal Experience Panel
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
Panelists:
RocQuel Johnson,
JD Woloshyn,
Kristen Zimmerman
6:45-7:10 25 minutes
RocQuel Johnson Kristen Zimmerman JD Woloshyn
On March 31st, we benefitted from the advice of parent leaders who participated in high stakes district engagement processes in the past.
After we reviewed our criteria for meaningful engagement, they shared their wisdom based on the following questions:
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Small Group Conversations: Instructions
For 10 minutes:
Each person introduces themselves briefly, then they share
ONE FEAR about the community engagement process for Phase 4.
The recorder writes what each person says in this document or on a piece of paper. If you are writing on paper, please send a picture of the paper to 510-491-6069.
Everyone has the right to pass. They can wait until their turn comes up again. If a person fully agrees with what another person said, they can say so. The notetaker can write +1 by the statement.
IMPORTANT: Persons should not be interrupted while sharing. Please avoid taking any fears personally because fears likely arise out of past experiences.
What they say is written as stated on the poster paper. Persons can pass and share when their turn comes up again. If a person wants to reinforce a fear that has already been stated, add +1 beside that item. Persons should not be interrupted while sharing. Please avoid taking any fears personally because fears likely arise out of past experiences.
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Questions For Our Panelists
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Questions For Our Panelists
3. Based on the criteria outlined earlier, share any aspects of those processes that:
a. were obstacles to meaningful engagement
b. helped to build meaningful engagement
4. What final advice would you have for this community engagement process that will help inform the future of our district?
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RocQuel Johnson Kristen Zimmerman JD Woloshyn
Link to the Video from the
Personal Experience Panel
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Instructions for
Small Group
Conversations
Cintya Molina, Program Manager,
District Advisory Committees &
LCAP Engagement
7:05-7:10 5 minutes
Small Group Conversations
1. We will split into groups of 4 or 5 to have small group conversations. We will have spaces for those who want to speak in Spanish.
2. Each group should take 10 minutes to choose:
A facilitator. This person will help the group move through the steps of this activity and will call on people to speak.
A recorder. This person will take notes of what group members say.
A reporter. This person will share with the larger group what the small group discussed without naming individuals.
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Small Group Conversations
The following volunteers will spread across the small groups to support the conversations.
| 5. Lateefa Ali 6. Colleen 7. JT Mates-Muchin |
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Small Group Conversations: Hopes & Fears
Our Prompt for Conversation:
Everyone has feelings about being here today based on the reasons we're here, our previous experiences, and our imaginings about what lies ahead.
Think about your experience with similar groups or processes, how things didn't go as well as you'd liked, and maybe what went very badly.
We will get out on the table our concerns about the community engagement process for Phase 4 of OUSD's Financial Stabilization Plan.
We will also share our hopes for how this work can go well and have positive effects.
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Small Group Conversations: Hopes & Fears
For 10 minutes:
After introducing themselves briefly, each person shares ONE FEAR about the community engagement process for Phase 4.
The reporter writes what they say in the linked document without identifying the person speaking. (Write +1 beside any statement that is reinforced by another person.)
Persons should not be interrupted while sharing.
Important: Please avoid taking any fears personally because fears likely arise out of past experiences.
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Small Group Conversations: Instructions
For 10 minutes:
Each person can share one hope following the same guidelines.
We will return to the large group to hear from everyone.
Adapted from "Hopes and Fears Activity" by the National School Reform Faculty
drive.google.com/file/d/13ahHcHV5Yvg5_aTcIQb-SPg4dcacsEoG/view?usp=sharing
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Small Group
Conversations
7:10-7:40 30 minutes
Sharing Out to
The Large Group
Lateefa Ali, DELLS Lead
7:40-7:55 15 minutes
Hopes. Demonstrate academic results. Show us how we are making progress. More community participation.
Fears: Not being heard. Our words not having value. Fear about language. Fear about losing our services due to bad experiences. Fear of socializing after the pandemic. We lost many groups that were already organized.
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Hopes.
A chance for us to do something special. All students, especially those on the fringes, get the resources they need. Hope that we are wrong about we fear. To be the School system that people around the country want to model themselves after. A wellspring of hope and vision for a better future around the “Oakland” ethos of “can-do” spirit. Hope for transparency on the new website surrounding the decision making process. Hope for greater parent involvement.
Fears.
Lack of community turnout. Are we starting this process with too much complexity? Are we reaching all groups of parents and community from different backgrounds? Is this whole process actually going to accomplish anything? Is this whole thing a worthwhile process? Will our voices actually be heard this time? Overdependency on analytics while undervaluing the human element. Fear that our hopes and desires will be reshaped to fit other narratives not in line with our own thoughts and desires. Fear of school closures, black faculty layoffs, school student safety. More trauma to our community. Worried about the most vulnerable in our community.
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Notes from Our
March 31 Meeting &
Next Steps
7:55-8:00 5 minutes
Recap of the March 31 Community Meeting
Link to the Agenda: tinyurl.com/4nxn9fx3
Link to the Full Update: tinyurl.com/3yfkacp7
This went out over Parentsquare on Friday, April 17
in the Engaging OUSD newsletter.
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Strongest Message From Participants
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.
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Upcoming Engagements
THURSDAY, MAY 7 at 6pm (Multilingual Zoom Meeting)
Zoom Link: https://ousd.zoom.us/j/83973909219
By Phone: 1-669-900-9128 Please note the change of date.
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.
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Upcoming Engagements
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.
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How to Communicate With Our Planning Group
Register now at https://ousd-mseg.org!
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.
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Please Fill Out our
Exit Survey
You can use the exit survey to:
→ let us know how tonight went;
→ share your suggestions and requests;
→ offer support.
In English: https://forms.gle/TiiMkzpAueAi2oMB9
In Spanish: https://forms.gle/JbP8FgfkvCynmif87
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THANK
YOU!
Debrief Link:
https://ousd.zoom.us/j/81733636983
Meeting ID: 817 3363 6983
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