Parents shocked to learn Oakland charter school permanently closed on first day of school
OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland charter school was ordered to close by state officials and the school district, but on Friday, parents still dropped their kids off, expecting the school year to go as planned.
Now, those parents are stuck having to find new schools for their kids to attend.
The news came as a shock to the parents, students, and teachers of the tight-knit community, even though the decision came back in June to shut down the school.
It was an emotional scene outside North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS), at the border of Emeryville and North Oakland.
One parent, Brittany Philpart, who said she runs a daycare that is a feeder program into NOCCS, said she has a daughter who attends the school.
"She didn’t even get to say goodbye to any of her friends," she said. "The school didn’t notify them that they were closing."
Juanita Pintane exited the school hugging her son, 4th grader Liev, both in tears. "It feels like the rug was pulled out from under us," she said. "We actually received communication a couple days ago that school would be open today, that we would be here, things would be as normal."
"We dropped her off at eight in the morning and got a text message by 10 saying the school would be closed," said Philpart.
Despite the shock, it has been an ongoing battle between NOCCS and Oakland Unified School District for years.
OUSD said back in 2019, the school was at risk of closure, but the parties came to an agreement to close only NOCCS middle school and get their standardized test scores up.
Most recently, at a June 5 meeting, the school board voted to revoke the charter and shut down NOCCS for good, effective June 30, 2024.
At the meeting, Kelly Krag-Arnold, the Director of the OUSD Office of Charter Schools, said, "NOCCS did not meet the academic outcomes specified in the agreement, so per the agreement, it is required to self-close by the end of the 2023-2024 school year."
Shaeonna Muhammad, chair for NOCCS Board and parent, said through tears that the school fought back, suing the school district.
"Going to board meetings at the drop of a dime arguing, sitting for hours at board meetings, begging, pleading, reaching out in emails, going back and forth," said Muhammad.
"The school has been performing better, like we won an award last year for like the best test scores improvements for black and brown kids," said Pintane, who said the school offered a special community for her son.
But Alameda County Courts sided with OUSD, and the school district said in a partial statement, "As NOCCS does not hold an active charter, it is not legally permitted to operate a charter school or open the 2024-2025 school year as a charter school…"
Muhammad told KTVU the school stayed open believing they could still operate while appealing the decision. She also said she requested another year of transition before permanent closure and did not hear back.
"No, the teachers didn’t teach academics. No, we did not turn any students away. However, the students were able to have fun and say their last goodbyes," Muhammad said, with tears in her eyes.
The school district maintains the school was notified multiple times of its fate, saying in a partial statement:
"Despite receiving written notice from the State to start closure activities, and being informed that NOCCS would not receive state education funding for 2024-2025, NOCCS elected to start instruction, and put its students and families in the position of having to relocate to new schoolsonce the charter school runs out of operating funds."
The California Department of Education said "a charter school may appeal a revocation to the county board of education within 30 days following the revocation decision of the chartering authority."
The state continued, "Our Charter School Division is not aware of the Charter School submitting an appeal to the Alameda County Office of Education."
Now, teachers are without a job and parents are looking for new schools.
"We don’t have a lot of options but we’ll figure it out," said Pintane.
140 students, grades k through 5, were set to attend North Oakland Community Charter School, or NOCCS, this school year.
The school is helping parents get their kids enrolled in other charter schools in the area.
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