School Zoning and Population

By Children Rising | September 26, 2011

Oakland is in the midst of its countdown to announcing public schools that will be closing. On October 26th, the board will make its decisions about which schools to close.
Decisions are based not just on API scores and average daily attendance but also on the percentage of students attending the school that also live in its respective neighborhood. This last factor can prove controversial as a high-performing school (like Kaiser elementary) can close because most of its students are outside of its zoning parameter.

Because Children Rising has been following this story for the last month, I did some research into where students are going and coming from for school. I was surprised to find that many students–often a majority–do not go to school in their neighborhoods. Schools such as Emerson, Fruitvale and Burckhalter Elementary, three schools that have had long-standing relationships with Children Rising, have an average of about 60% of their student populations from outside their neighborhoods. Emerson, which has the highest percentage at 70%, is on the list for potential closure.

To view all the maps for Oakland public schools as well as charter schools, click here.