OUSD Board Of Education

Good evening, and welcome to the March 4 special meeting of the Oakland Board of Education. Mister Rakestar, can we have a roll call to establish quorum, please?

Mister Seychow. Oh, mister Seychow.

On the roll call to establish quorum for today's special meeting, 03/04/2026. Student director Simmons, student director Smith, Director Lauter?

Present.

Director Williams, Director Hutchinson, Director Berry?

Present.

Director Thompson?

Present.

Vice President Bachelor.

Here.

And President Bruhauer.

Here.

Kolon, present.

Thank you. And Mr. Hollis, can we have an Mr. Seychow, can we have an interpretation check, please?

Yes. For tonight's meeting, we have three languages for live interpretation. They are Arabic, Spanish, and Cantonese. For in person, we have laptops. Please raise your hand.

There is also translation closed caption feature available on Zoom that you can use by clicking the closed caption icon in your Zoom taskbar. We will start with Arabic. I will lower all students' hands. Please only raise your hand if you need Arabic interpretation. Miss Abdi, if you can come off mute, excuse me, and make the interpretation announcement for Arabic, please.

Arabic announcement is done. Great. Thank you, Tarek. Check attendees to see if if any hands are raised for Arabic interpretation. Seeing no hands raised, we will not start Arabic interpretation.

Next, we'll go to Cantonese. Again, I will lower all tenets' hands. Please only raise your hand if you need Cantonese interpretation. Miss Ho, if you can come off mute and make the interpretation announcement for Cantonese, please.

Mr. C Chao.

Great. Thank you, miss Ho. Chair attendees, if any hands raised for Cantonese interpretation. So I do see few hands that are raised, so we will start with cantonation interpretation. Next, we'll go to Spanish.

Again, please only raise your hand if you need Spanish interpretation. Mr. Copenhagen, if you can come off mute and make the interpretation announcement for Spanish, please.

Yes.

Thank you, mister Seychow.

Great. Thank you, mister Copenhagen. Check attendees to see if any hands are raised for a Spanish interpretation. Seeing no hands raised, we'll now start with Spanish interpretation. So we will activate Cantonese, and we'll check again later during the meeting.

I turn it back to you, president Bruhart.

Thank you. On tonight's agenda,

we have two public hearings. Item c one twenty five dash three zero six five, a Method Public Schools Downtown Charter Academy, charter material revision, change of enrollment preference, and enrollment increase. And

that is followed by item c two twenty five dash three zero three two. Excuse me. Francophone Charter School of Oakland, charter material revision, change of location, and enrollment increase, the charter office. After our public hearings, we will return to we'll go into closed session. And in closed session tonight, we will discuss item e one twenty six dash zero five two two, public comment I'm sorry.

I have public comment. I read that wrong. Legal matters f one twenty three dash zero five nine eight, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation. F two twenty four dash zero one six three, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation. 25 f three twenty five dash twenty seven ten, conference with legal counsel existing litigation, and we after that, we will reconvene into public session.

The public hearing now for a method public schools downtown Charter Academy, charter material revision, change of enrollment Preference and Enrollment Increase, Charter Schools Office is now open. I believe we have a presentation from the Charter Office followed by a presentation from A Method. Let me correct that. This is the decision hearing for A Method.

Good evening, my name is Kelly Craig Arnold, I am the director of the OUSD Office of Charter Schools, here with Tim Morris, our policy specialist. So tonight, Oh, let's see. Turning it on would help. Alright. So tonight we have a material revision for DCA.

So when a charter school wants to make a material change to their charter petition, they have to go to the charter authorizer to request a material revision. This includes changes to a school's enrollment priorities. And so DCA is requesting a change to their enrollment priorities. This is a one year temporary change to give a temporary priority to students from Oakland Charter Academy, which is a middle school also under the AMPS CMO. And that preference would accommodate those students from the closing OCA.

And this would be a self closure of OCA. And then also after the initial public hearing for the DCA material revision, they resubmitted their material revision to also add a permanent enrollment priority for homeless students. I will pass it over to Mr. Morris for the rest of the presentation.

Okay,

so staff evaluate material revisions according to the following three criteria outlined in education code. Has the charter school presented a sound educational program? Is the charter school demonstrably likely to implement that education program? And is the proposed petition reasonably comprehensive? We have not done a formal evaluation in this presentation for criteria one because this change will not affect the education program of the school.

However, in the appendix there is California dashboard data that you can reference on their academic performance. Okay, getting into criteria two, is the school demonstrably likely to implement the proposed educational program? We've done a fiscal analysis as part of that criteria. With this fiscal analysis, we can highlight that DCA's enrollment projection of 448 assumes a decline of 13.3% in DCA and OCA's combined enrollment from the current year. This, compared to historical trends, appears to be a reasonable assumption to make.

The charter school's financial condition is generally in good fiscal health. Indicators, on the multi year budget projections, indicate this. The school maintains adequate reserves, their enrollment projections appear realistic, and the CMO's most recent audit report contained no findings. Regarding facilities compliance, according to the floor plan submitted by AMPS, their building has 22 classrooms. This 22 classrooms on campus with their projected enrollment of 448 students would lead to approximately a 20 student to classroom ratio.

Regarding the enrollment impact analysis, the charter school stated that the preference would likely increase their Hispanic student enrollment from around 13% to 25 to 30%. They indicated that this would likely bring their school's demographics closer to that of OUSD. Criteria three is the petition reasonably comprehensive. We evaluate this based on the 15 required elements outlined in California Education Code, and we've determined that the petition has included a reasonably comprehensive description of those 15 required elements. Staff recommends approval of the material revision.

Approval would come with a benchmark that DCA complete closure procedures for Oakland Charter Academy AMPS would complete the closure procedures for Oakland Charter Academy by fully completing and implementing OUSD's charter school closure checklist. We've made this consideration using the charter schools information that their current location can accommodate its proposed enrollment increase. The proposed enrollment changes would accommodate the students from OCA with minimal potential impact on nearby district schools. And following the anticipated closure of OCA, minimal community or fiscal impact is expected.

Thank you.

Thank you. I believe now there's a presentation from a method.

Good evening, President Burhard, trustees, and Superintendent Sadler. My name is Adrienne Barnes, and I am the CEO of A Method Public Schools. I want to start by just appreciating each one of you for stepping up and leaning in as educational leaders during such a challenging time. I want to thank you for your commitment and the many, many hours that you're putting in for all of Oakland's students. A Method Public Schools or AMPS is a small network of charter schools in Oakland and Richmond committed to preparing historically underserved communities to succeed not only in college but in life.

AMP started as Jingle Town Charter in 1993, the very first charter school in Oakland. It is now Oakland Charter Academy, and we are here before you today because it's our intention to merge Oakland Charter Academy into Downtown Charter Academy. While we are sad to see the first charter school formally close, we do believe that merging these two schools is the responsible path forward for both school communities and for Oakland at large. Our formal material revision proposal for DCA is to establish a one year enrollment preference for students displaced by the closure of OCA. Establish an ongoing first priority enrollment preference for unhoused students, and to expand enrollment of DCA by up to 97 students to accommodate the OCA sixth and seventh graders who wish to attend DCA.

We're making this request because we recognize declining enrollment across Oakland and the need to right size our footprint in the city. We are now at a point where consolidating our portfolio of schools in Oakland makes sense both programmatically to best serve our students and financially to ensure network stability. This merger enables us to allocate resources more efficiently and to provide stronger programming and a broader range of programming at a single campus at DCA in Oakland. As I shared before, we are requesting the following revision to our lottery preferences. In collaboration with this board, we added a number one preference for students experiencing homelessness, and our number two preference is for just one year for students displaced by the OCA closure.

Good evening. My name is Mary Busby, and I'm the senior director of student support services and special education. I'm also the managing director of DCA. We believe the merger of these two schools will allow us to create a stronger educational program and experience for all of our students. One very positive and important result from this merger is the development of a student population that is more reflective of the area in which the two schools are located, the intersection of Fruitvale and the San Antonio neighborhood.

Increasing the diversity of the student population creates a richer school environment and a more powerful educational experience for all of our youth. Additionally, consolidating resources at a single site allows us to provide a greater range of programming, improved facilities, and greater home office support. With that, I'd like to take an opportunity to appreciate the Office of Charter School staff, Rachel and Jennifer for visiting our school, and all of the others who engaged about this merger. I know personally you all worked very hard, and I thank you all for your service, and thank you for considering this material revision tonight.

Thank you. Is there public comment on this item?

Yes, Madam President. We have seven speakers.

Let's give two minutes each.

The first two speakers are students. They are Oreo Oreo Adewo and Caitlin Hong. Rest of the speakers are Maria Maria A. R. Quinn, Jacqueline Velasquez, Sandra Wing, Margie did starts did with a d, and Jalinda Booker.

Vice weekend.

Clock could go on just a minute. You can go ahead.

Oh, thank you. Good evening board members. My name is Oriel Adewaleh and I am an eighth grade student at DCA. I am here today because I would like for the board to approve the expansion of DCA. What I love most of DCA are the activities and the extracurriculars that they offer.

They make learning fun and it makes me as a student want to be at school. One of the one of the activities that I enjoy is doing Dungeons and Dragons. In ACES, we do drawing and many other activities like soccer, football, and etcetera. And I love that because it's it allows you to express your creativity. I am excited to have OCA students on campus and I am hoping they see us as a welcoming community and want to be open to getting to know us and want to be a part of the community.

I am excited for us to learn together. Teachers here have high expectations for us because they want us, they want the best for us. Even when I think I can't do something, this mo even when I think I can do something, this motivates me and all my comrades to do and be better. I am asking the board to please vote yes on the DCA expansion. Thank you.

Good evening board members. My name is Caitlin Hong and I am an eighth grade student at DCA. I'm here today because I would like for the board to approve the expansion of DCA. OCA students will benefit from our tight knit community and how much the teachers care about our education. Staff put on great activities to help build a sense of community and you get to explore different interests.

People at DCA are really kind and that helps me because it makes you feel welcome and creates an environment where I can feel like I can truly be myself. I think OCA students coming to DCA will help expand the different cultures and it makes me excited to learn more about their stories that are being that are bringing with them. I'm I am excited to welcome OCA students and for them to experience and be part of the DCA family. I'm asking the board to please vote yes on DCA expansion. Thank you.

Good evening board members. My name is Jacqueline Velasquez. I am an OCA alumni and currently an administrative assistant at DCA. I've been at DCA for about two years and I am here today because I would like for the board to approve the expansion of DCA. When it was time for to choose a middle school when I was younger, I chose OCA because of the services and community that they offered.

Later, my mom realized that AMPS really cares about making sure students get into college. Hence, my little sister and I attended OCA and OCHS. DCA is a way to continue the community that AMPS helps build. It is important for students to be able to see themselves in the staff and realize that they can reach their goals as well. South then and now hold high expectations for students because they know that they can do it.

There are so many alumni that come and pour back into their community because of the mission that AMPS shares. Staff retention speaks to the community. Staff then and now have high expectations because of they because they know that they can do it, the students can do it. There are so many alumni that come back and provide into their community because of the mission that AMPS shares. Staff retention speaks to the community that DCA helps foster that OCA students will benefit from.

There is staff here from when I was a student at UOCA, and I am so honored to now be their coworker. We are so excited to welcome OCA students here and expand their vision and what they could be. I am asking the board to please vote yes on the DCA expansion. Thank you.

Good evening board board members. My name is Shandria Wing, and I'm proud to serve as the dean of instruction at OCA and as a committed member of the Amps Network for three years. I want to honor the incredible dedication shown by our sister site downtown downtown Charter Academy throughout this unification process. This merger is about strengthening what we can offer our students by bringing OCA and DCA together. We are expanding opportunities, aligning strong academic practices, and ensuring that every student continues to receive the high quality education they deserve.

This is a step toward greater stability, stronger programs, and a more unified support system for our students. While OCA is closing as a standalone campus, our history and our legacy are not ending. They are being carried forward into DCA into a school that honors where our students come from and is ready to invest deeply in where they are going. Our commitment to putting students first has always defined OCA, and that commitment will continue to guide us through this next chapter. I remain deeply dedicated to the AMP's mission into ensuring that this merger strengthens our community, preserves our story, and builds an even brighter future for every student we serve.

Thank you. I am asking the board to please vote yes on the DCA expansion.

Good evening board. Thank you for making the time to review our material revision and for allowing us to present to you tonight. Sorry. My name is Margie D'Giorgio and I am a proud member of the AMPS board of directors. Over the course of the last several months, almost a year now, every seat on the board has been turned over and replaced with new board members.

New to AMPS board, not new. We are collectively, our group holds a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge in the world of school leadership, in the world of education in general, both district and charter, in business operations, in board experience, we've all held spots on multiple boards over the years. We as a group stand committed and firm in our desire to support and hold the school leadership, AMPS leadership accountable, so that they're compliant in all areas, demonstrate fiscal health and stability, and are held to the mission and vision so that the highest outcomes for students can be achieved. I personally have complete faith and confidence in Ms. Barnes and her leadership team in leading AMPS forward in all the right ways as demonstrated by the recent clean audit, high outcomes for students.

So I respectfully request that you approve the material revision so that all students in the community can benefit from the work of the AMPS team. Thank you.

Good evening, board members. Thank you for your time. My name is missus Booker, and I have been a proud member of the AMPS network for four years. And I currently serve as the education specialist at Oakland Charter Academy. I am here today to share my support for the expansion of Downtown Charter Academy and to ask approval ask your approval for this unification.

In my role as the education specialist, it is always my focus to ensure that every student, regardless of their learning differences or needs has the resources and the environment they need to thrive. Over the past four years with AMPS, I have seen firsthand how much our community values specialized support and high expectations. I have witnessed firsthand the benefit of those specialized supports and high expectations that continue to keep me motivated during such a troubling and hard time to work in education. I myself have been in education for five years and being with AMPS has really kept my drive and motivation to be here, especially as an education specialist. The merger between OCA and DCA is a vital step in streamlining those supports.

I currently talk to the specialists at DCA all the time. And by bringing our two communities together, we aren't just moving locations, but we are pooling our expertise, our specialized programs, and our dedicated staff to create a more robust support system for our students. I'm excited about the DCA family environment because I know that for my students, a sense of belonging and consistency is the foundation for their academic success. The expansion ensures that the legacy that we have that AMPS has built around care at OCA, we we will be able to continue and grow within a larger, more stable framework at DCA. For the continued success of our students and the strength of our specialized programs, I am asking the board to please vote yes on the DCA expansion.

Thank you for your time this evening.

Mister excuse me. Mister Copenhagen, if you can help interpret. Mister Copenhagen? Wait for one second as we move you to another channel. Okay.

Okay. Sounds good. Go ahead.

Okay. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Maria. I have a student in sixth and in another student in eighth grade attending this school, OCA, and we are here to support the expansion of the school.

As a parent, I want the best for my children. And this school comes very highly recommended. They seem to have very high expectations for their students. And there seems to be mutual respect between the students and the staff as well as the teachers. I think our students, the ones in Oakland and our community deserve the best results possible.

So I encourage you to vote in favor of the expansion. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. And there are no further public comments. Are there any board comments?

I move

the, acceptance of the request that we have a merger of the two schools. Second. OCA and DCA. Second.

Board comments. Director Thompson?

Yes. If you will, thank you very much, president, and thank you for those who presented. I really appreciate the things that I heard because I tried to listen intently to see exactly where you were going, and a number of things really struck my interest. Number one, looking at the intrinsic, leadership, assessment that you're going to actually offer for DCA. I really appreciate that.

I really appreciate how merging both sites together or your discussion of merging both sites together will actually increase the opportunity to provide a more rigorous educational program for students who are attending. Of course, I I really enjoyed the strong rationale for criteria one and criteria two.

I just wanted to appreciate, I know Adrian Barnes sent, some responses to our board questions, and, I forwarded them along to the staff and appreciated the thoroughness that you discussed the special education questions that I had. And I think moving forward, I'll just be interested to hear, perhaps as part of your next update, how those programs have merged and how you're supporting those students moving forward. Thank you.

Yes. I don't wanna take up too much time, but I just wanna express gratitude for the thoughtful responses to the questions. It is very clear that you took respond to the questions, but you integrated some of the feedback that you heard immediately, and so I it just demonstrates and conveys the true commitment to partnership, which I think, particularly given everything that's going on in the district, we really need to hear. And so just deep gratitude for the thoughtfulness and care that you're taking in this process.

Yeah, I just wanna echo that appreciation and also wanna share that I appreciate the ranking of unhoused students to the top of the list because that is something, an area of growth. I wanna make sure that that is a focus as well as going into the next year. Thank you.

I'll also echo thank you for the answer to the questions. I also appreciated the visit. That was really a great thing to see. But I appreciated, Ms. Barnes, your honesty in discussing the changes in governance and in finance, because I know that was an issue before, I felt that was a really very thorough answer, and I I appreciated that.

So thank you. Mr. Rakestar, can we have roll call on I'm sorry. Mr. Sei Chao, can we have a roll call on the vote?

On the roll call to adapt '25 to adopt 25Dash3065. Downtown Downtown Charter Academy petition request for a chart material revision grade six through eight. Request to add temporary enrollment preference for Oakland Charter Academy students and to increase enrollment to accommodate merger of OCA into DCA beginning school year 2026 through 2027. Student directors are absent. Director Lada?

Yes.

Director Williams? Absent. Director Hutchinson? Absent. Director Berry?

Yes.

Director Thompson?

Yes.

Vice president Bachelor?

Yes.

And president Bruharter?

Yes.

The motion is adopted.

And with that, the decision hearing for, this item is now closed. And the decision hearing for, item c two twenty five dash three zero three two, Francophone Charter School of Oakland, charter material revision, change of location and enrollment increase, charter school's office. The hearing is now open. Okay. With that, the public hearing is now open.

Thank you. Okay. Alright. Good evening again. We are now on to the material revision for Francophone Charter School.

They are proposing a location change. They're currently in two locations, one private facility and one OUSD facility, the Toller Heights facility. And they're proposing to move to one private location. They're also proposing an enrollment increase, although the proposed enrollment increase is still under the maximum enrollment identified in their charter petition. I will now turn it over to Mr.

Morris.

As I mentioned in the last presentation, these are the three criteria that we use to evaluate material revisions as outlined in Education Code. Similar to the last presentation, this material change will not affect the education program of the school, so we won't include an analysis of the school's education program in this presentation, but their California Dashboard data is included in the appendix. So going into criteria two, we will do a quick highlight of their fiscal analysis. Francophone's projected attendance rates are generally consistent with their historical patterns and projected enrollment also appears realistic when compared to historical trends. Their projected enrollment is below their approved maximum enrollment of five twenty students.

Their debt ratio remains below one point o. Their cash reserves exceed FIGMAT's recommended 5% floor throughout the charter term. Regarding the compliance of their new facility or their proposed new facility, According to the floor plans that they submitted, the facility has 18 classrooms. These 18 classrooms would accommodate their proposed twenty twenty seven, 28 enrollment of 420 students with a 23 student to classroom ratio. They have submitted a signed lease agreement, a charter school board approval, evidence of a fire safety inspection.

We are still pending submission of a certificate of occupancy and an OUSD walkthrough checklist. Regarding criteria three, upon review, the petition is reasonably comprehensive and is included in appropriate description of the 15 standards according to education code. Staff recommends approval of the material revision. This approval would be conditional on Francophone's ability to secure a certificate of occupancy and OUSD walkthrough checklist. With this recommendation, we consider that the charter school's proposed location can accommodate their students without any new construction.

The charter schools acquired a signed lease agreement, completed a community impact questionnaire, and provided evidence of a fire safety inspection. Additionally, the fiscal assumptions regarding their move are reasonable. Thank you.

Thank you. I believe we have a presentation from Francophone.

Good evening board directors Bruhard, Barry, Lata, Bachelor, Thompson, Van Cedric, Hutchinson, and Superintendent Sadler. My name is Claudia Lee, executive director at Francophone, and I would like to thank you for allowing us to add other pieces of data to show that Francophone relocation is necessary and beneficial. This move significantly improves the academic program, school culture, finances, and operations. By having all the students in one location, we will eliminate the safety concern of parents traveling between sites via the 580 Highway at peak hours. We will have a cafeteria for the upper school kids.

We will have more space for teachers' collaboration and students' recreation, among others. Enrollment has grown slowly and steadily for the past years and the new campus will offer us the space to grow as needed within the already authorized enrollment cap.

Good evening. My name is Nadia Benachour. I am a proud French teacher of the combo class for fantastic fourth and fifth grade. So, relocation and expansion respond to our strategic plan of 2024. Parent and staff members identify the need for a larger facility as one of the fundamental priorities for continuing to offer a strong, free, strong, free dual immersion programme.

Because the current facility's limitations bring challenges for instructions, safety, planning and collaboration. Relocation and expansion are aligned and support Francophone's mission to provide a dual immersion for students. Dual immersion curriculum in order to develop a diverse bilingual and biliterate community of students. This relocation and expansion strengthen a unified instruction model implementation for the only free dual immersion programme for our children in Auckland and the Bay Area. We offer a strong academic program.

Black and African American students, students with disabilities, socioeconomic disadvantaged student, white, and students in the two or more races like me. Group demonstrated accelerated academic growth in the SBAC assessment in the 2025.

Good

evening board. My name is Nadine Jacques, third grade French teacher. African American students with disability and two or more races obtain an accelerated academic growth in mathematics. The academic growth success demand expansion and the new location will allow us to have a marker space for robotic, science and visual art. Students from whom English is a third or fourth language demonstrated progress in English and in math.

So this relocation respond to a strong academic performance for everyone. It is our plan to strengthen our ELD program. The new campus will offer us the opportunity to have two small classrooms dedicated to pull out small group for ELD and tier two students. Our expansion will strengthen academic quality. We have a high teacher retention rate that ensure instructional stability for students.

Our educators have access to ongoing professional development, dedicated instruction, coaching, classroom management, support aligning with our current instructional practices. Teachers benefit from instructional autonomy, collaborative planning time, and meaningful opportunities to integrate global perspective into the curriculum. The new college campus will further enhance academic quality by providing essential space for teacher planning and collaboration, a staff lunch, and a dedicated workspace for PE teachers and also for after school program and team members. So the new location will give us to support the needed and the need to deliver an excellent instruction.

My name is Maria Francesca Najarian. I love my after school program because I like my friends and the activities. My favorite activity is science club because you get to experience new things and do experiments.

Just read louder and just come here.

Oh, there we

go. So

read from here.

You can start again.

Yeah. My name is Maria Francesca Najarian. I love my after school program because I like my friends, teachers and activities. My favorite part is Science Club because you get to experience new things and do experiments. I love my school and I also love my after school program.

Good job Maria Francesca, she's one of my best students. We practiced today, she was so excited, and I'm really My proud of name is Erica Cardona, and I am the school program director. This expansion allows for better services to families. The new campus will offer a dedicated space for parent engagement, including cafecitos, parents monthly coffees and school gatherings, as well as designated areas for our after school program with extended learning opportunities and community events. We will also establish a school library for our third through eighth grade students, and we are considering to include unhoused students as a priority for enrollment.

The relocation improves access through better proximity to underserved communities, increases our capacity to support special populations, including special education, English learners, and unhoused youth, and provides important safety and facility upgrades. Throughout this process, we have prioritized community engagement through meetings, feedback sessions, and ongoing outreach to ensure this expansion reflects the needs of the families we serve.

Good afternoon. My name is

Anthea Charlemagne, and I'm the speech language pathologist at the Francophone School. We are deeply committed to engaging French speaking immigrant families and strengthening access to our program. Our francophone families actively help distribute flyers within their networks and in communities they frequently frequent expanding our reach organically. Our flyers shared through neighborhood and community organizations. These efforts are making a measurable impact.

As of this March, coming March today, we will we will receive an honorary medal for organization International de la Francophone in recognition of our service to the Francophone community in the Bay Area. We proudly enroll and serve students with IEPs and English like language learner learners, and we are deeply committed to meeting these diverse needs. We provide explicit and consistent ELD per instruction to ensure students with emerging and expanding English proficiency develop the critical language skills necessary to access academic content. Our instructional approach includes sequential multi sensory reading and writing instruction to support strong literacy development For students with bridging English language proficiency and for those who are arrive speaking only French, we intentionally leverage the connections between home and school languages, viewing multilingualism as an asset and not a barrier. We lean into long term cognitive and academic gains that research shows multilingual learners achieve.

Moving forward, we are focused on strengthening support for English learners with disabilities by using the California framework, Empire SELPA guidance, and Project Muse to ensure equitable evaluation practices and integrated classroom support.

Our goal is to increase middle school retention while remaining within our authorized, enrollment. By strengthening academic supports, expanding enrichment opportunities, and centralizing services, we are creating a more cohesive TK through eight experience that encourages families to stay to graduation. Last year, we improved middle school retention by 57%. This strategic focus on retention allow us to grow stronger internally, maintaining a stable enrollment, preserving program quality, and ensuring continuity of instruction. The next one, please.

Our enrollment projection for next year is four zero five students, which is 115 students below our current cap of five twenty. To remain fiscally responsible and realistic, we have conservatively capped our five year enrollment projections at five, four twenty students, with an ADA assumption of 94. The projected four zero five students for next year represents a 9.1% increase from last year to the from this year to the next. Sustainable growth that reflects rising demand while maintaining stability. The next one.

Our five year enrollment projections and demographic analysis of the new location demonstrates thoughtful, sustainable growth and we remain fully committed to ensuring equitable access to our families. Over the past four years, we have demonstrated a steadily and consistent improvement in overall student attendance. In addition, absenteeism declined in 60.7% last year. This upward trend reflects a stronger family engagement, effective attendance monitoring systems, and targeted interventions to support students who are at risk of chronic absenteeism. Improved attendance not only signals the positive school culture, but also directly supports stronger academic outcomes and overall student's success.

The next one please. Our relocation and expansion plan is designed to ensure financial and operational sustainability by consolidating operations to a single site and leveraging the expertise of our experienced school team. We have developed multi year financial projections covering at least the next three to five years, which account for relocation costs, as well as identified funding sources. This careful planning ensures that the school can maintain highly quality programs, support staff effectively, and continue serving our students without compromising fiscal stability. The next one, please.

Our facilities plan is also supported by a financing strategy. We have prepared detailed cash flow projections to manage expenses and maintain operational stability throughout the transition. In addition, we have received the PCSGP expansion grant from the state for the years '26 to '28, and a generous donation to address potential financial operation and facility related expenses, ensuring that our students programs and services remain uninterrupted. The college facilities were originally built as an educational campus and have continuously served that purpose. I also want to clarify the two pending documents, the certificate of occupancy.

On Friday, the landlord had received the city message that the inspector is visiting this Friday. And the walkthrough, I think it was a misunderstanding. We have all the points and we're ready to submit and we will submit it this evening. I want to thank you all for your service, your advocacy, and for this opportunity. Thank you so much.

Is there a motion to approve this?

Questions? You have any questions?

I'd like to make a motion to accept the material revision.

I think it's to approve the material revisions and I'll second that motion.

Thank

you. Public comment.

Yes, Madam President, there are six speakers. Four of them are students.

The students could come first.

Right. Those first four speakers from our students, Julian Lutz, Christina Kim, Rebecca Scheel, Charlotte Potti, and the other two speakers are Jennifer Hardini and Annette Dionette.

Two minutes each.

I think I misidentifying myself as a student. I've been out of eighth grade for a while. My apologies. My name is Julian Lute. I'm a proud, parent of a second grader and a fifth grader at Francophone.

My fifth grader started during the pandemic and started learning French over Zoom, and my second grader started in TK. And this is very, very personal to me. I have great friends who were among the charter families for Francophone, and I've seen their children grow up in this community. One is in college right now. The other is just a budding international superstar.

So I saw that happening, and I thought my kids should be along that same path. Our family is not a French speaking family, but we've been able to create close friendships and, and relationships with other families and students and also the school community that have enriched us beyond even my own personal my own personal, understanding of what it could be. The one thing that we think about in our family is that our children can be global citizens, and I think that's something that our children have proved. We've had the fortune and the blessing to be able to travel internationally, And I don't think our kids see the world as being an outsider. They represent Oakland.

They represent The United States. But I think they also see themselves as part of a much more rich human experience. So I think that perspective changes how they walk through the world. We had the experience of having a French exchange student come to our home over the last few weeks, and to hear my my children speak French for nearly two hours on the car ride home was fascinating for me. I hope they weren't talking about me, so, you know, you never know what actually happens.

But I think they had a really great experience to the point where, you know, when our French exchange student left, there were plenty of tears to go around, and they found a connection internationally that they can always hold dear. I also had the opportunity with myself and some of the parents here to serve on the advisory committee at least a year and a half ago, where we identified that us being able to update our location was gonna be critical. I'm one of the parents who has to drive kids between two campuses, and I know that this is gonna be better for our community and for our students. So I hope that you all will vote yes that we can do this, and thank you so much. That's why our family's here.

My

name is Jenny Pardini. I'm a parent of a fourth grader, a past co president of the parent association, and a current member of the outreach committee. We proudly maintain an equitable and accessible enrollment process. Because we participate in Oakland enrolls, we follow a transparent application timeline and public lottery system that ensures fair access for all families. Beyond the formal process, our outreach committee, made up of parents and staff, actively works to reach families across Oakland's diverse neighborhoods.

We invite families to monthly school tours, community events like our winter market and international food festival, and other milestone celebrations. We also present at local daycares and head start programs and participate in citywide events such as Oktoberfest, the school choice fair, lunar new year events, the black joy festival, the Oakland Coliseum swap meet, and Fruitvale farmers market. Through this intentional outreach, we are expanding access and increasing enrollment among families from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Since becoming a parent at Francophone, I have also personally spoken to other perspective LGBTQ plus families about my experience at the school. It makes me proud that the Francophone community is a diverse representation of the Oakland community.

And since I still have time, as a past co president, I will say that we came in the first year back on campus after COVID. And so I developed a wonderful community at the lower campus, but we felt really separated from the parents we didn't know at the upper campus. And now that I'm an upper campus parent, I feel like we have a wonderful community, but I also feel disconnected from the lower campus. And I really think this is a wonderful opportunity for our school to bring our community back together and have all of our kids together. So I encourage you to vote yes.

Thank you.

My name is Charlotte. I'm a teacher, kindergarten teacher. It has been like eight years I'm teaching at Francophone. At our school, international teachers are valued contributors who strengthen our community. Our students and family appreciate global perspective, which allow foreign teachers to thrive both professionally and personally.

We integrate multicultural celebration and global content into our curriculum, reinforcing the importance of diverse voices. Our staff diversity and strong commitment to equity and inclusion ensure that every educator feel respected and supported. We are trained in restorative justice practice and actively recognise international perspective as assets that enrich learning for all students. All teachers receive continuing coaching and professional development to adapt to the California standard and current instructional trends to support our students. Please vote yes.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Annette Dennett, and I am truly grateful for being here. Thank you so much for your time to OUSD board, to the charter community, our charter representatives, and Francophone and OUSD community as a whole. I've been blessed to be part of this community since the beginning.

I have five children, all of whom have either graduated from Francophone or are currently enrolled in the school. And in addition, I've been able to serve, on the board since the beginning, and I have served as board chair for the past several years. So it's been truly a part of my heart to be part of this community. I want to appreciate you for approving this school back in the same spot I was here in 2014 when we heard the yes votes to open our beautiful school and I just want to say again thank you so much for the gratitude and for the support and guidance along the way. I'm not only an Oakland resident for the past twenty years, I'm also Francophone.

My father is from Ivory Coast, Cote D'Ivoire in West Africa. My mother is French. I was born here two years after they came to The States. So I'm francophone in all the elements that you can consider francophone. French was my first language, but unfortunately I was not able to attend dual immersion schools.

And had it not been for a school like this, my children and most OUSD children would not have this opportunity for free. That was the reason I came for free, which made the difference. It was truly a make or break decision for our family and for many others who we hope will also have the opportunity. So again, a third time I want to say thank you for being a part of this journey and for being part of the vehicle that has actually kept the school open and helped us along the way. This move to one campus is not just a change in location, it's actually, we believe, will positively impact all three of our strategic pillars.

That's academic excellence and achievement, equitable and inclusive culture, and fiscal and operational health. I too am one of those parents who literally takes a two and a half hour lunch break to drop off and pick up all of my kids. This is a blessing. We think it's a win for everyone. Thank you so much.

Good evening, OUSD board. My name is Rebecca Scheel, and I'm a mom of a third grader and a francophone board member. And right now, my family's hosting one of our French teaching assistants. I'm a French speaking Bay Area native married to a European, but we chose to settle in Oakland and make it our home in part because we saw a francophone charter school, and we just fell in love with the mission to create global citizens. It's been an incredible opportunity for our daughter, learning from teachers from around the world, experiencing the richness of many cultures and the various intersections of what is diversity, all that while, you know, learning French.

And we've been embraced by this warm and supportive community, not just her, but also our entire family. And I'm here tonight to express my strong support for the Charter revision to consolidate our two campuses into one. It's the right decision for our students, our staff, and our community. Our campus ensures, one campus will ensure long term financial viability, allowing us to invest directly in the students, better facilities, library, science labs, specialized learning spaces that will help us attract and retain students. It also means better support for our teachers with the spaces that they need to do the best work and shows them how much we truly value them.

Bringing everyone together under one roof also strengthens our school community. I only have one kid, so I don't have to suffer the the commuting difficulties of our parents that you've just heard from, but I have noticed the school culture change from upper and lower campus, and I know combining it will just really make us really a strong an even stronger community. And this move represents a tremendous amount of work from our engaged community, but also strong school leadership, which has made real progress in the last two years on our strategic plan, and I'm very confident in our school leadership moving forward to make this move a success and ensure our sustainable future. So thank you so much for for listening, and thank you for approving this revision and voting yes. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Christina Kim, and I am a parent to these two first graders at Francophone. We are a first generation immigrant, non French speaking family as our many other families are Francophone. I was here last time talking about how beautiful, inclusive, loving our community is. And today, I'm here to talk about, my experience as a room parent and also as a volunteer yearbook photographer.

I spend a lot of time volunteering at school, so much so that a lot of the students think that I work there, and I just I don't think that. But I've gotten to know a lot of the students and the families and the staff, on a very personal level. And I have seen firsthand the attention and the support that we give our, students who need attention, or who need extra help, whether it's because of a learning disability or learning difference or maybe because they're neurodivergent. But we, we spend the time and the resources to make sure that all of our students' needs are met and that they all are given the same opportunity and, just just that extra push to to thrive and to feel that they're succeeding academically and that they feel included in the school. I have also seen firsthand students and families who are who experience food insecurity, housing insecurity, who fear fear of ICE raids and detention.

And as a parent and as a volunteer, I've seen the school rise, and to respond in action and, with urgency. And we raise funds, we share information, we raise gifts, and we share our time and our knowledge. We you know, we're truly a community, and we're there for one another when needed when there's a need. We strongly believe in equity and justice and inclusion, and our kids learn and live that every single every single day at school, and I see it. So thank you so much for considering our move and our revision, and I do truly hope that you vote yes.

Thank you.

Other board comments? Director Thompson?

Yeah. I thank you very much, president Brohard. I want to thank our charter office. I'm sorry. I don't oh, there.

They are back. I wanna thank them for a very, wonderful report, and it makes me feel good to know that you looked at the certifications, and you made sure that the certifications were either completed or in progress. Thank you very kindly for that. Thank you, Francophone, because I am one that firmly believes in multilingualism, but I also believe in that not, watering down our academic programs. And so thank you very kindly for that.

I I don't speak French fluently, although I studied it in college, and so I have a degree in French. But because I have not had a chance to speak French, and I used to speak it in the mirror all the time because I never wanted to speak to, I've lost a lot of my French. But Thank you very much.

Any other comments? Director Barry?

I'm tempted to show off my French too, but I know that. I just wanted to say thank you for the presentations, for welcome me welcoming me on campus. This is a no brainer for me. We're talking about leveraging our ability or our responsibility as board members to ease the education experience for families to help support material improvement for you all. And I'm very happy to support it tonight.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for the additional information that you provided me. I will say I heard in the presentation that there is a desire to support unhoused families or unhoused students. I would love to see that desire be articulated in a very clear plan to address those folks so that they can be included in your school community as well as any special education students that may want to join your school community. But yes, I agree that having the educational experience of our students in mind, having one site is gonna be helpful for that. And so, yeah, that's all

for today.

Well, I also took French in high school and only can remember the first verse of La Marseille, but I'll spare you that. I appreciate your presentation tonight, and I think again, uniting into one community is certainly beneficial both to the school community and to parents who may have to drive their kids to different sites. But thank you for your comments tonight, and special shout out to the kids who spoke. That was takes a lot to do that, and I, look forward to hearing you make more speeches as you get older. Mister Rakestar, can we have a I'm sorry.

Mister Sechow, can we have a, roll call and vote, please?

Yes. On the motion to adopt 25 Dash3032, Franklin Farm Charter School of Oakland, petition request for charter material revision. Grades TK through eight request to move to a different location and to increase enrollment beginning school year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven subject to school's compliance with state conditions by staff. Students are absent. Director Lauter?

Yes.

Director Williams and Director Hutchinson are absent. Director Berry?

Yes.

Director Thompson? May we. Translate that as a yes. I'm sorry, yes. Thank you.

Vice President Bachelor?

Yes.

And President Bruhai?

Yes.

The motion has adopted.

And with that, we will now adjourn to closed session, and we will return back after closed session for report out. Oh oh, is there a public comment, I'm sorry, on closed session items?

There are no, public commenters for closed session, madam president.

Thank you.

Our schools are here to support the whole student every day. We have supports in place to ensure your student can be success.

Alright. Do we need to mister Szechiak, we do a roll call to establish quorum?

Yes. On the second roll call to establish quorum, student directors are absent. Director Lada? Present. Director Williams?

Absent. Director Hutchison? Absent. Director Berry? Absent.

Director Thompson?

Here.

Vice President Bachelor?

Here.

And president Brujahr?

Here.

Quorum, present.

Thank you. Report out of closed session for 03/04/2026 under legal matters, item number F123Dash0598, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation. The board gave direction on this matter, motion by president Brohard, seconded by director Thompson. Vote of four in favor, zero abstained, and two absent. The motion passed.

On item f two twenty four dash zero one six three, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, the board discussed this matter. On item number f three twenty five dash twenty seven ten, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, the board discussed this matter. And that is the end of the March closed session report out. And with that, the meeting is adjourned.