Students, teachers and parents are in an uproar over Oakland Unified School District's plan to shutter several schools over major budget deficits.
The current plan is to close 13 schools to save millions of dollars in a budget deficit caused by declining enrollment, made even worse by the pandemic.
On Friday, hundreds walked out of class to protest the closures, with one such demonstration at Carl B. Munck Elementary in the Oakland Hills.
"I don't want my school to close, because this is a good school and I want to graduate from 6th grade," said 4th grader Titus Peterson while at the demonstration.
Teachers are just as frustrated as the students.
"I'm really sad about this," said Faustena Linarez, who has been teaching 1st grade at Munck for 23 years. "I really love this school, it's a wonderful community."
The district has determined that Munck, as well as other schools on the chopping block, just don’t have enough students to keep operating. But the declining enrollment doesn’t make sense to Linarez, who said that she often has parents asking to enroll their children in the school.
"I don't know what their agenda is, but we have space here at Carl B. school," she said.
This isn't the only form of protest being taken to fight against the decision. Earlier this week, at a Board of Education meeting, some teachers declared they would go on a hunger strike until the closures are called off.
One of the striking teachers, Maurice Andre San-Chez aid that the decision to go without food "will not end until the board decides to find another way and stop closing and merging our schools," as previously reported by KCBS Radio.
"OUSD supports everyone's right to protest, including protesting possible decisions by the Board of Education," said the district in a statement provided to KCBS Radio. "We know that our students, staff, and families all agree that we need a district of thriving schools, yet not everyone necessarily agrees on how best to get there."
The final vote to decide on the closures is set to take place on Tuesday.
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