Students, educators and supporters rallied Wednesday for the Oakland Unified School District to return $3.5 million in voter-approved college and career funds that they say were used to cover operating costs, NBC Bay Area reported, a day before trustees were scheduled to meet.
The money comes from Measure N, passed in 2014 and renewed by Measure H in 2022. “Our futures are not your budget fix, our dreams are not expendable, and our schools are not businesses to profit from,” Skyline High School student Jonas Jones said. “When you are a young person of color growing up without an abundance of resources or opportunities, these programs, courses and support systems instated by such a fund as Measure N and H can make a complete utter difference in the direction of someone’s entire life.” James Harris, a Measure N/H commissioner and former trustee, said, “High school principals said ‘no,’ the Measure N and H commissions voted 4-0 ‘no,’ the school never voted on the matter, (and) the district spent the money anyways.” Rudsdale Continuation High School Principal Carmelita Reyes said reserves “are for emergencies,” not for an ongoing budget problem “everybody saw and didn’t do anything about.” Commissioners sent a letter to the board last month and planned to discuss their demands at Thursday’s meeting, NBC said.
In a statement provided to NBC, OUSD said it welcomed an independent review commissioned by the Alameda County Office of Education and performed by Eide Bailly LLP, which examined dollars charged to Measures N and H in 2025-26. The district said the review found every transferred position was a kind the measures permit, that transferred costs were overwhelmingly pay and benefits for pathway teachers and case managers, that reviewers found “no indicators of fraud, misappropriation or illegal fiscal practices,” and that the district reversed $159,447 where staffing charges exceeded the documented pathway share. Using parcel-tax reserves was part of a budget-balancing plan the Board of Education adopted in December 2024 to address a $95 million deficit, and the specific positions and amounts were presented to the commission in June 2026, the statement said. The district said it takes the commission’s concerns seriously, including the demand for a formal vote, and will work toward a clearer approval process. This is a follow-up to earlier coverage of the commission’s demand; it does not report a vote that had not yet been taken in NBC’s account.