Oakland School Board Votes to Close 5 Schools

Schools will close at the end of the school year.

Oakland's school board has approved a plan to close five elementary schools at the end of the school year.

Despite pleas from parents and teachers, the board approved a plan to close Lakeview, Lazear, Marshall, Maxwell Park and Santa Fe Elementary Schools Wednesday night.

The Oakland Unified School District says the move is necessary to deal with declining enrollment and state budget cuts.

There will be transition team members on each of the campuses Thursday morning to help the students and staff get ready for the closure.

"Kinda sad and happy that I will be here this school year, but sad that I won't be here for 5th grade," said Marshall 4th grader Donaven Kelley after the meeting.

The closures come on top of the news earlier this week, that the faculty at two other Oakland elementary schools voted to split from the district and become charter schools, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Teachers at ASCEND and Learning Without Limits say becoming a charter school will give them more control over hiring practices, lesson plans and how they spend their money.

The district will lose 800 students if the two schools become charters. It will also lose more state money.

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