A Difficult Conversation About Our Budget—and Our Future

I'm writing to you today about something that weighs heavily on my heart: the difficult financial choices ahead for our District.

Almost four weeks ago, Chief Business Officer Lisa Grant-Dawson shared that the Board passed a resolution requiring staff to develop plans for cutting $100 million from our 2026-27 budget. Since then, every department has been working to identify where those reductions might come from. Today, I want to share where we are and what comes next.

Here's what I know for certain: whatever plan the Board ultimately approves will hurt. There's no way to cut $100 million—roughly 20% of our unrestricted general fund budget—without significant pain. People we know and care about will lose their jobs. Programs our students love will be reduced or eliminated. Services our families depend on will change.

County Superintendent Approves Our Budget

The challenges we face are clear in the letter we received this week from Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, Alysse Castro. The letter gives us conditional approval of our 2025-26 budget, but with obvious great reservations. It says in part, “At its October meeting, the Board continued a troubling—and troublingly familiar—pattern of deferring difficult decisions. Rather than adopting a concrete, time-bound plan to address significant budget shortfalls, the Board approved what can best be described as a plan to have a plan.”

The letter continued with, “OUSD’s history reveals an undeniable pattern: requesting plans, then disregarding them; rejecting staff recommendations; changing direction and directions, and, when difficult decisions are finally made, rescinding them shortly thereafter”.

I share that to illustrate the complexity of this time that we are in and the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead. We must get this right.

Also, I remind you that these problems are not new. Our business team has been alerting the Board and the community about these oncoming financial challenges for several years, since we knew the one-time COVID pandemic dollars were approaching their expiration date last year. We could see the need to take measures to mitigate the financial drop off on the horizon, and we have made clear the need to make hard choices long before now.

Why This Is Different

I've worked in Oakland schools for 45 years. I've lived through budget crises before - including that terrible time when we fell into receivership in 2003. But I've seen us find creative solutions—increased fundraising, philanthropic support, and during the pandemic, federal relief dollars that gave us breathing room for several years. Now those one-time funds are gone. And this time, our financial situation is genuinely urgent.

The Board has directed us to keep reductions as far from schools as possible and to focus first on Central Office operations. That's what I've asked every department to do: protect classroom instruction, even when it means deeper cuts to support services.

I'm also directing our finance team to adopt what I call a Care-Centered framework as we develop the recommendations we'll propose. This means centering the needs of students and families first, caring for the teachers and staff who support them, and doing our very best to minimize the pain in these difficult times.

I've been meeting with school principals, teacher leaders, and parent groups in recent weeks. While no one wants cuts, there's growing recognition that we must act now to balance our budget and preserve local control. As one principal told me, "We can't help our students if the state is making our decisions." That wisdom—prioritizing hard choices we control over worse choices imposed on us—is guiding our work.

At a Special Meeting on November 19, our business team will present to the Board at least two budget-balancing options. The Board will then have several weeks to review these plans, hear from the community, and make a decision—expected at the December 10 Board meeting.

A Word About Trust

Some of you may be thinking: "We've heard dire warnings before. How do we know this is real?" First of all, in the recent past, we have made painful budget adjustments, including in 2017-18 when we made significant mid-year cuts, and several rounds of reductions to the Central Office in other years. That said, the District has shared budget concerns that didn't turn into a full-blown crisis. That history has made some question whether the alarm is real this time.

I've been part of this community since 1979. I've taught in Oakland classrooms. I've led Oakland schools. I served as president of the Oakland Education Association for six years. My credibility isn't built on four months as superintendent—it's built on more than four decades of service to this community.

I wouldn't be sounding this alarm if I didn't believe to my core that we are facing a real crisis. I care too much about Oakland's children to cry wolf.

What I'm Asking From You

I want your partnership and participation in the weeks ahead, and I want to hear from as many voices as possible—school site councils and principals, parents and guardians, students, teachers and staff, concerned citizens, and advocacy groups. Every perspective matters.

Send us an email. Call our office. Come to Board meetings and give written or verbal public comments. Share what matters most to you.

I'm also asking for something harder: your trust and understanding that even when the decisions are painful, every choice will be guided by care. I care about our students. I care about our teachers and staff. I care about this community that has given me so much. Every choice we make will flow from that care, even when all the options in front of us are painful.

Let me be clear: the December decision will address our most immediate crisis, but it's not the end of the conversation. We still have hard choices that lie ahead for future budgets. I'm committed to maintaining our focus on fiscal discipline and keeping our financial house in order, and using our limited resources more effectively to better support all Oakland students. While I’m grounded in our history and people, I also know that what we do today will set the course for how the district operates, looks, and invests in its students for years to come.

Upcoming Opportunities to Engage

• Budget and Finance Committee Meeting: 6:00 p.m., Tonight, 11/6 - Committee Room Near KDOL TV, MetWest High School Entrance, 314 East 10th Street
• Special Board Meeting on Budget Issues: November 19
• Regular Board Meeting (anticipated vote): December 10

Please visit www.ousd.org/budget for updates, documents, and ways to share your input with the Board and our team.

With deep respect and commitment,

Dr. Denise Gail Saddler
Superintendent