Facilities Update -- please help!
June 24, 2020
A Message from Bri
We need your help!
We just learned last week that MLA has been added to the Facilities Bond Proposal as a potential site to receive $49.5 million in funds for renovation to the existing Maxwell Park campus and a addition of a new structure on the Maxwell site to bring our entire community back onto one campus.
We need our parent community to show support for this project and keep it on the project bond list. Not many from our parent community responded to the facilities survey that was sent out and the MLA project is in jeopardy of being taken off of the list. We need to show up and COMMENT during tonight's Board Meeting and next week's Board Meeting in order to keep MLA on the project list!
Here is what you can do:
ACTION 1. Participate in the school board meeting TONIGHT and sign up to make a live comment to share why you think MLA should be a priority on the bond project list.
- Here is the link to watch the Board Meeting tonight live (just to watch it)
- Here is the link to learn about how to make comments
- If you want to watch AND make a live comment, please follow these steps:
STEPS to participate in LIVE Board Zoom Meeting
- Copy the meeting link into your browser: ousd.zoom.us/j/85345143077
- Once the meeting begins (around 6pm) you will be able to click on the zoom link to watch the video and participate.
- To make a live comment during this action item, please click on the "raise hand" button in Zoom and wait for your name to be called.
- NOTE: Board meetings have been going VERY late into the night. If you can't stay up late to make a live comment, please make an eComment instead. You won't be able to publicly make a live comment until this agenda item comes up, which may be very late.
ACTION 2. If you can't attend the Board Meeting via Zoom tonight, please make eComments via the meeting agenda
- Here is the link to the agenda. It is item: T3 20-1090 New Business
- Here is how you make Ecomments on the item.
Here are some talking points to help you think about what to share (and feel free to add your own):
- HEALTH AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED: The district has identified that MLA is a school in need of major facilities upgrades according to the "Facilities Conditions Index". Our Facilities Condition Index is a level 4, which ranks us with the schools in Oakland that are in most need of improvement. For example, we need a new boiler. Our classrooms reach over 110 degrees; it is too hot to learn. We don't have any athletic facilities such as a field or a gym. Our students don't have access to water or shade when playing on the yard. Our middle schoolers don't have science labs or lockers. The District has said we need major renovations just to make our campus safe to learn.
- MLA SUPPORTS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES IN THE DISTRICT: MLA is a school that is in high-demand as a high-quality dual immersion school and keeps Oakland families in Oakland Unified Schools. We have a long wait list of over 400 families, but we can't enroll more students because we don't have enough space. Our current site only has the capacity for 400 students, but next year we will have over 625 students. We need more space by adding a new building to our campus so we don't have to split across two sites.
- OUR TEACHERS AND LEADERS NEED TO FOCUS ON LEARNING: We have proven that we are a great school. According to the District's CORE Growth Data, our students are growing at one of the fastest rates of any school in Oakland. We send our 8th graders to high school ready for Advanced Spanish AND proficient in all of their core subjects. We have a strong newcomer program and the district's ONLY bilingual special day class program. We have a high teacher retention rate. Our teachers and leaders need to focus on helping us learn and keeping our program strong, instead of being distracted by constant issues with our buildings and infrastructure.
4. If you are interested in helping with MLA's facilities work, please email Andrea Lowe at taelowe5@gmail.com.
Please share with others and help spread the word!
Bri
Melrose Leadership Academy
Email: mlaschoolquestions@gmail.com
Website: www.melroseleadershipacademy.org
Location: 4730 Fleming Avenue, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: (510)535-3832
Facebook: facebook.com/melroseleadershipacademy