Eleven schools in the Oakland Unified School District are set to close at the end of the California academic school year May 25. However, it is a motion that had no community input and was voted on solely by certain school board members. The schools in question range from elementary, middle, and intermediate (K-8) schools that are in predominantly Black and Latinx communities.
The sudden announcement of closures sparked debate amongst the community, students, parents, and teachers and created a hunger strike by teacher and UTEP alumni Maurice André San-Chez. Camped outside of their workplace Westlake Middle School, San-Chez went on strike at the beginning of February, in hopes of halting the vote that took place Feb.