Statement of Support for the OUSD Multi-Stakeholder Engagement Group (MSEG)

Supporting Real Community Engagement for Oakland Unified School District

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is entering a period of highly consequential decisions. The next phase of the district's multi-year Financial Stabilization Plan will shape our schools, how they are staffed, and what every student in Oakland can expect when they attend a public school here. Many important decisions must be made before those changes are implemented.

The students, families, educators, and staff who will live with those decisions deserve a real role in shaping them. Too often, OUSD community input has been gathered after the fact, lost between meetings, or acknowledged without being acted upon. We believe that our district must and can do better. Doing better is the shared responsibility of district leadership, the Board of Education, and all who make up the OUSD community.

Rooted in that belief, we came together within the OUSD Multi-Stakeholder Engagement Group (MSEG). MSEG is an independent, all-volunteer group of OUSD parent leaders, teachers, principals, classified staff, central district staff, and OUSD community members. Our collaborative is not run by the district, not controlled by any single stakeholder group, and not affiliated with any political organization or campaign.

Since our first community meeting in March of 2026, MSEG has built an open, multilingual participation platform, engaged in direct outreach, convened engagement sessions across the district, published all data openly, and worked with district leaders on shared tools so that community conversations could rest on shared facts. Even after all that effort, our work is just beginning.

To extend the reach and impact of our work, we count on your support.

We, the undersigned, affirm the following four conditions MSEG has set forth for engagement that is real rather than performative:

1. Shared facts. The OUSD community and the district work from the same accurate, accessible information about enrollment, staffing, budgets, and outcomes.

2. Transparency. It is clear what is being considered, by whom, on what timeline, and where the public can weigh in before a decision is made.

3. Follow-through. Keep the district accountable to a sustained engagement process. Verify what became of the input that is received. Real engagement closes the loop.

4. Meaningful inclusion. The families and school communities who are affected by decisions have a place at the decision-making table, with particular effort to reach those historically left out.

We support MSEG's work to make these conditions the norm at OUSD, and we commit, in our own roles, to:

• Treat community input gathered through MSEG's process as a serious contribution to district decision-making, and to say publicly how it was considered.

• Share impending decisions with the community early enough for their voices to matter.

• Encourage the people with whom we work and whom we serve to help sustain the efforts of our collaborative.

• Keep this commitment regardless of election outcomes, leadership transitions, or the difficulty of the choices ahead.

This statement takes no position on any particular decision before the district or the Board. Signing it does not imply support for any specific agenda, proposal, or outcome. It simply affirms that decisions should be made in collaboration with members of the OUSD community as equal partners and that the work of MSEG to build that partnership should be supported. Signing this statement does not constitute endorsement of any candidate, ballot measure, or organization, and signatories speak for themselves.

Oakland's schools belong to Oakland. We invite every current and prospective member of the Board of Education, and every member of our community, to join us.