Berkeley Parents Network: Enrolling in Oakland Schools

Berkeley Parents Network

Enrolling in Oakland Schools

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Oakland Public Schools > Enrolling in Oakland Schools

Oakland schools residency requirement?

June 2007

We own property in Oakland, but live elsewhere because of work commutes. We'd like to send our kids to the Oakland public school near the home we own, but have heard that the requirement for enrollment in OUSD is residency, not property ownership. If true, I find this unfair - our property taxes are supporting the school, after all. Has anyone dealt with this issue before, or challenged/brought it up with the district? Or simply ignored the policy and enrolled their child anyway? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks. pondering possibilities

The requirement is residency-- if you are renting the property in Oakland out, then the people who are renting are the residents, and their money is ostensibly being used to pay the property taxes. They are the ones who have rights to attend the school in the district. You have several options:
-Move back into the district.
-Apply for an intradistrict transfer. These do exist, and can be obtained, especially by a motivated parent (of a student who will NOT cause trouble and,although no one wants to say so, raise school testing scores)
-Lie and get into the school district on false pretenses. If you take this last route, know that there are people on the PTA who will take it as their personal mission to have you removed from the school, and that if your student were to ever get in trouble, the principal would be justified in expelling them from the district. The Berkeley School Board is right now looking into intensifying its system of identifying 'out-of-district' students. It is not clear what the outcome will be, but other school districts are certainly watching closely. Since at least one parent will be needed to transport this child to and from school twice a day (since school busses will NOT take a child to a house out-of-district without the school's knowledge), I would seriously think about moving back to your property. That way you bet the benefit of your 'property taxes' and won't be making the system even more 'unfair'. seasoned teacher

Well I think it depends on what school you are talking about. As you may have heard, some people that own and live in houses near some schools did not get into their neighborhood schools. If it is any other school, I doubt anyone will care. As for your question about the residency vs. property ownership requirement, if you think about it, it is pretty obvious why the requirement is residency-- renters are allowed to go to school too, the rent you charge presumably takes into account the property tax you pay, etc. That said, one of Oakland's school problems is underenrollment, so if you are trying to get into a not-so-popular elementary school or a jr. high or high school, you could probably get a legal interdistrict transfer or just put down the address of your rentral property and not worry about it. anon

Yes, the rules are that you must live in the community to be able to enroll your child in the public school. You do have choices:
1. You can apply for an out-of-district enrollment. There is a family in my child's school from Hayward, so it's possible. It may not be available for a high-status school, but for many other schools in Oakland.
2. You can illegally enroll. You run a risk that your child will be discovered (even mid-year) and have a disrupted school year. You will have to worry about parents who will report you (like me) if we find out. Are we doing something mean to your innocent child? I think it's the parents making the choice to expose their child to the risk. I'm also tired of the rationalizing that rules are for other people (whose kids are less precious?).
3. Send your child to a less desirable school in Oakland -- no one will question your residency, if you're not trying to scheme into a high-demand school.
4. Use your status as a property owner to lobby to change the rules to something more to your liking. good luck

What is the process for enrolling in kindergarten?

Sept 2006

I am looking for info on applying for public school in Oakland for Kindergarten 2007-2008 year. What is the process. How do you request a particular school. Any insights/suggestions about how to get the school you want. How did the new process work this year? Thanks
jfu

Re: Oakland Unified entering K process: (I am mom of girl who entered K at Kaiser this year, 2006-2007, from an appeal) Anxiety producing, but not as bad as it could be. Call the district office and make sure you are aware of the timetable, deadlines etc. Get as much info as possible about the schools you may be interested in. Lots of schools are in transition right now, so don't rule out your neighborhood school (You don't say where that is). From my experience principals have been great regarding visits, etc. Pace yourself as visits are exhausting.

The process itself: To be honest, I can't remember how it started--a call to the district? I think I got our ''Choice'' packet at the elementary school fair in January (call district for date). Talked to lots of principals there, including the one from our neighborhood school. Sent my choice in right away. Heard back roughly the time that OUSD said they would reply, and was assigned to neighborhood school (which I had not put down as one of my 7 choices). NO one I know got their choice of school the first time around (if their neighborhood school was not among the choices). If you do not get one of your choices, you can appeal, but you can then only choose one school where you will be placed on a waiting list. So as soon as you know you need to appeal you should 1) call the district office and talk with Noah Bookman (I might have that spelled wrong) and see which schools have long waiting lists (eg, some schools like Chabot were overenrolled with neighborhood kids and siblings) and 2) call the principals directly to get what info you can out of them re waiting lists. (This was my strategy anyway--I did not want to waste my choice on a school where I would be 20th on the waiting list). I sent my appeal in right away, and was called by Kaiser just days later. If you don't get your appeal, you will be put on a waiting list at that school. Then over the next couple weeks the schools call down the waiting list as they see how their classes are filling out.
Happy Kaiser Mom

Moving into the district mid-year

Aug 2005

We are considering a move to the bay area and would likely end up moving around December or January. One of the places we are most seriously considering is the Montclair area of Oakland. From what I gather you have a peference for your neighborhood school, but then empty spots are filled via transfer. If we move mid-year are we going to have trouble getting into the neighborhood school? One of our key criteria for choosing a house is the school zone, so I'd like to be sure we can get our kids in it. (Our son will be in first grade this year). We are also looking at Berkeley and Alameda, any thoughts on mid-year moves to those districts would also be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew

Hi there-- we live in Montclair, and LOVE it! The school district is seriously talking about changing things with regard to enrollment for fall of 2006 (these changes are due to take effect starting October of 2005-- just 2 months away). You can read about it on the OUSD website, or contact Noah Bookman at the OUSD . I think he could give you some really valuable information for your particular situation. fellow parent

The opinions and statements expressed on this website are those of parents who subscribe to the Berkeley Parents Network. Please see Disclaimer & Usage for information about using content on this website.