Oakland Unified School District

The troubled Oakland Unified School District may have to repay $163 million in state and federal money it failed to track properly in 2002-03, the year before the state took over the district, an audit has found. State Controller Steve Westly, whose office conducted the audit, said Friday that Oakland officials also failed to monitor how the district spent $322.5 million from construction bonds, which could limit its ability to issue future tax-exempt bonds.

Samuel Kanwea showed up for what should have been his freshman year in high school illiterate, malnourished and exhausted from years of living in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast. His family had never been able to afford the luxury of education, so he spent his early teenage years collecting firewood and selling fish. When the Liberian refugee started school in Oakland at the age of 17, it was the first time he had stepped foot in a classroom. "Everyone was speaking English and it confused me," said Kanwea, a lanky student with a wide smile.

Six Oakland Unified School District employee groups criticized district officials, accusing them of keeping employees in the dark about a $5-million budget deficit. "All of a sudden, we open the newspapers and see we have a deficit," said Michael Hopkins, president of the United Administrators of Oakland Schools. "Why does the media know about it before the people working for them?"

An alternative middle school here was renamed in honor of President Obama this week, joining a handful of schools across the nation that have adopted the 44th president's name as their moniker. Oakland Unified School District trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to rename the Alternative Learning Community in East Oakland as the Barack Obama Academy. The school, founded in 2007, educates students who have struggled academically and socially in traditional schools. The name change was prompted by students, who said they felt stigmatized by the word "alternative."

An alternative middle school here was renamed in honor of President Obama this week, joining a handful of schools across the nation that have adopted the 44th president's name as their moniker. Oakland Unified School District trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to rename the Alternative Learning Community in East Oakland as the Barack Obama Academy. The school, founded in 2007, educates students who have struggled academically and socially in traditional schools. The name change was prompted by students, who said they felt stigmatized by the word "alternative."

The largest school bailout in state history was approved by the Assembly Friday, moving an Oakland school district closer to financial solvency and oversight by a state administrator. The Assembly voted 54-9 to approve a $100-million emergency loan to the Oakland Unified School District. Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland) said the district had run up debts because of an antiquated accounting system, declining enrollment and rising expenses, including higher salaries.

An emergency $100-million loan for the insolvent Oakland Unified School District cleared its final hurdle in the Legislature on Thursday and was headed to Gov. Gray Davis for signing. On a 28-9 vote, the state Senate approved a bill authorizing the loan. Davis is expected to sign the measure, approved earlier by the Assembly, providing the largest bailout for a school district in California history and a state takeover of Oakland schools.

The California Senate voted reluctantly Thursday to rescue the financially ailing Oakland Unified School District with a record $100-million state loan. The action provided a fresh example of the persistent demands on the state treasury for funds, even as state government itself sinks deeper into the quicksand of its own budget shortage. The Oakland school district appealed to Gov.

Although cash-strapped California could ill afford a $100-million expenditure this year to bail out a school district that had mangled its finances, the state couldn't leave Oakland children without an education. So a loan to the Oakland Unified School District went through. The good news? On Monday, the state appointed a trustee with proven experience to return Oakland's schools to solvency and ensure that California gets its money back. Oakland's new trustee, Randolph E.

Oakland schools chief Richard P. Mesa, recently appointed by state education officials to take over the troubled Compton Unified School District, announced Tuesday night that he has turned down the job and will remain in Oakland. Mesa's decision came after two days of closed-door meetings with board members of the Oakland Unified School District. He has served as superintendent of the district since 1990.

Almost 7,000 school district employees will have to show up at district headquarters this week if they want to get paid. An audit two years ago found a small number of "ghost" employees were receiving paychecks without working in the school system. The district is performing a second audit to ensure that paychecks are going to the 6,943 verified employees and that all workers are being paid the correct amount. Oakland schools have recently spent millions upgrading payroll and personnel systems.

Oakland schools will regain some local control 2 1/2 years after the state stripped the board of power following near-bankruptcy, state officials said. The Oakland school board will be allowed to manage relationships with reporters and help operate school advisory councils but will have no say in academics, finances or campus operations, state Supt. Jack O'Connell said Tuesday.

The troubled Oakland Unified School District may have to repay $163 million in state and federal money it failed to track properly in 2002-03, the year before the state took over the district, an audit has found. State Controller Steve Westly, whose office conducted the audit, said Friday that Oakland officials also failed to monitor how the district spent $322.5 million from construction bonds, which could limit its ability to issue future tax-exempt bonds.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it would provide a $9.5-million grant to create smaller high schools in the financially troubled Oakland Unified School District. The grant will fund the ongoing transition of three high schools into clusters of small academies and open five new small high schools by 2007. This is the second grant the district has received from the foundation since 2000, when it was awarded $15.7 million.

As the school term began last week, all but an estimated 2,000 of the 30,000 California public schoolteachers previously facing layoffs were back in the classroom. But their relief that most of the pink slips have been rescinded does not fully erase the pain of the budget cycle, teachers say. For example, Jan Forni was among 38 teachers in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, north of San Francisco, who were laid off over the summer.

Although cash-strapped California could ill afford a $100-million expenditure this year to bail out a school district that had mangled its finances, the state couldn't leave Oakland children without an education. So a loan to the Oakland Unified School District went through. The good news? On Monday, the state appointed a trustee with proven experience to return Oakland's schools to solvency and ensure that California gets its money back. Oakland's new trustee, Randolph E.

State education officials have selected Richard P. Mesa, head of the Oakland school system, to become the state-appointed administrator of the financially troubled Compton Unified School District. Mesa is expected to take over in mid-October for interim administrator Stanley G. Oswalt, who has served since July. The district had to surrender control to the state as a condition for receiving an emergency $10.5-million loan.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it would provide a $9.5-million grant to create smaller high schools in the financially troubled Oakland Unified School District. The grant will fund the ongoing transition of three high schools into clusters of small academies and open five new small high schools by 2007. This is the second grant the district has received from the foundation since 2000, when it was awarded $15.7 million.

State education officials appointed their longtime overseer of the Compton school system to take control of the insolvent Oakland Unified School District on Monday, just as Compton's public education was returned completely to local hands. Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, named Randolph E. Ward to serve as state administrator of the Oakland schools, and asked the district's superintendent, Dennis Chaconas, to resign by the end of the day Monday.

An emergency $100-million loan for the insolvent Oakland Unified School District cleared its final hurdle in the Legislature on Thursday and was headed to Gov. Gray Davis for signing. On a 28-9 vote, the state Senate approved a bill authorizing the loan. Davis is expected to sign the measure, approved earlier by the Assembly, providing the largest bailout for a school district in California history and a state takeover of Oakland schools.