To: Oakland Unified School District Board Members:

Alice Spearman (District 7), Christopher Dobbins (District 6), David Kakishiba (District 2), Gary Yee (District 4), Jody London (District 1), Jamoke Hinton Hodge (District 3), Noel Gallo (District 5)

From:  Bay Area Technology School Parents and Community

We, the undersigned Parents of Bay Area Technical School wish to express our concerns to the School Board regarding our relocation and Charter Renewal. As you are aware, there has been much debate surrounding related issues and we wish to express our solidarity and support of our school.

Relocation Issues:

Transportation. A significant number of our students (50-60 or more) have been faced with hardship in trying to get to Kings Estates from their homes in the Temescal/Rockridge neighborhood. We must get this issue resolved. The private transportation bids we have received are in excess of $10 per student PER DAY. This is unacceptable and we ask the School Board for assistance resolving this issue.

Site sharing concerns: 

We are concerned about the interaction between the current students attending the Academies at Kings Estates and our own. Bay Tech has had a long and successful relationship with the Oakland International School and its student body. We intend to apply the lessons learned from that success to our relationship to [Sojourner Truth/Advanced Path?]. We need OUSD support to ensure continued success. It is imperative our students and the other students DO NOT comingle.

Outreach:

We hope to employ OUSD resources to reach out to area (District 6 and District 7) elementary and middle schools to introduce those parents to BayTech Middle and High School opportunities.  The Principals of those area schools have been visited by BayTech staff and informed about our relocation to Kings Estates. Please support our efforts in informing schools and parents of our new location.

Longevity: 

Relocations like the one we just made can only weaken the school community if it is not undertaken carefully. We need to know that this will not happen again. Many of us are excited about the facility at Kings Estates, as it will benefit our Science and Technology curriculum. However, given the lack of consistency on the part of OUSD leading up to this relocation, including compensations made for the expansion of Oakland International at our previous campus, we are very concerned that we'll have to go through this again. This MUST NOT HAPPEN. Our students deserve stability, consistency, and dependability from those they count on for their education. Please help us in providing those needs by not moving us again. Our students deserve better and so do we.

OUSD CHARTER RENEWAL:

Administration and Parents met with Gail Greeley OUSD Charter School Coordinator who introduced us to the Charter Renewal Process. We are confident Bay Area Technology School will succeed in extending our charter. We ask the School Board to lend its support on behalf of BayTech to expedite this process. After our renewal we want to get written assurances from OUSD that our students won't be forced through another relocation.  

We, the Parents of Bay Area Technology School are committed to supporting our School, Faculty, and Administration in the future. We only ask the Oakland Unified School Board to match that commitment.

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