Andre San-Chez and Moses Omolade, a teacher and administrator at Westlake Middle School went on a hunger strike on Feb 1st to protest OUSD school closures. They protested for eighteen days and ate nothing but water, vitamins, and electrolytes.
--Calliope Dean, 7th grade
Andre San-Chez and Moses Omolade, a teacher and administrator at Westlake Middle School went on a hunger strike on Feb 1st to protest OUSD school closures. They protested for eighteen days and ate nothing but water, vitamins, and electrolytes.
Andre San-Chez has taught at Westlake Middle School for five years, running the school choir and it’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance group. “I love this school and the community we’ve built here,” San-Chez says.
Omolade has worked as an administrator at Westlake for six years. He came up with the idea to strike after attending the board meeting on January 26th, 2022. He didn’t like how the school was being treated and wanted to do something about it. Their demand was that no OUSD schools be closed, relocated, or joined with another school, and “for the state to use its budget surplus to pay the remaining balance of the debt that OUSD owes to the state,” according to the Oaklandside.
Andre San-Chez has taught at Westlake Middle School for five years, running the school choir and it’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance group. “I love this school and the community we’ve built here,” San-Chez says.
Omolade has worked as an administrator at Westlake for six years. He came up with the idea to strike after attending the board meeting on January 26th, 2022. He didn’t like how the school was being treated and wanted to do something about it. Their demand was that no OUSD schools be closed, relocated, or joined with another school, and “for the state to use its budget surplus to pay the remaining balance of the debt that OUSD owes to the state,” according to the Oaklandside.

A week into the protest, Omolade was hospitalized and quickly after released. San-Chez lost about 9% of his body weight after about ten days. As reported by Oaklandside, “Omolade’s toughest day was day 4. He was hungry, angry, and on edge. One of his friends, a therapist, came to visit and helped him meditate.” There weren't a lot of hard days following this. They stopped protests on day 18.
OUSD planned to close and merge 15 schools over the span of two years. The OUSD plan was originally to balance the budget, this immediately received backlash because of thoughts from parents and teachers at these schools. Oaklandside said in a separate article about school closures, “Of the students at the eight schools slated for closure this year and next year, about 43% are Black—nearly twice the proportion of Black students in OUSD overall, which is 22%.”
Hundreds of high school students from Oakland Tech walked out on Feb. 11 to protest the closures.The protest crowded the streets in front of OUSD headquarters and wrote in chalk on the ground with messages such as, “Protect Black Schools.”
Hundreds of high school students from Oakland Tech walked out on Feb. 11 to protest the closures.The protest crowded the streets in front of OUSD headquarters and wrote in chalk on the ground with messages such as, “Protect Black Schools.”
After Omolade and San-Chez’s protest, OUSD agreed to keep Westlake Middle School open. The actions of the protesters had an effect on the problem, but not a big enough one. As of now, several schools are still planned to be closed. People are still upset about the other schools that are planned to be shut down.
“I know the kids are going to be very upset, at least from my experience,” says Mila Boyden, a sixth grader at Oakland School for the Arts, whose elementary school (Kaiser Elementary) was permanently closed in 2019. “When my school closed, me and my friends were upset, angry, and sad. And the parents would be angry it could be hard for them to drive.s” Boyden believes that what OUSD is doing is “unfair and that it shouldn’t be happening.”
“I know the kids are going to be very upset, at least from my experience,” says Mila Boyden, a sixth grader at Oakland School for the Arts, whose elementary school (Kaiser Elementary) was permanently closed in 2019. “When my school closed, me and my friends were upset, angry, and sad. And the parents would be angry it could be hard for them to drive.s” Boyden believes that what OUSD is doing is “unfair and that it shouldn’t be happening.”

While she somewhat understood where OUSD was coming from, Boyden was still upset by it. “They claimed that it’s because of their budget, I guess I sort of understand but this isn’t the best way to fix it.”
Ynez Foxe-Robertson, a seventh grader at OSA, previously had her school closed temporarily. “I used to go to a school that was in the OUSD school district, it was called Peralta. It was closed down once and I hated it. In the perspective that I’m older I now understand it a bit more, but I really think it’s more about the teachers and that I don’t fully understand.”
Ynez Foxe-Robertson, a seventh grader at OSA, previously had her school closed temporarily. “I used to go to a school that was in the OUSD school district, it was called Peralta. It was closed down once and I hated it. In the perspective that I’m older I now understand it a bit more, but I really think it’s more about the teachers and that I don’t fully understand.”
Foxe-Robertson believes that even the short amount of time that these kids won’t have an education are still crucial, saying “But every kid needs an education and the fact that even more kids are getting that now it’s just amazing and we want to keep that.”
Not only will these school closures affect the kids but also the teachers, parents, and staff. “If those schools close, the school teachers will need to find new jobs, and kids will need to find new schools. It would affect everyone,” Foxe-Robertson explains.
Both would be “heartbroken” if their school closed now, and can only imagine what the kids of those schools are feeling. As said by Foxe-Robertson, “If OSA closed I’d be heartbroken. I get to do what I love and I get a great education. If OSA closed it would be so hard on me, my parents, and the teachers. I’m just thinking about so many kids who won’t get to experience learning about what they love.”
SOURCES:
Not only will these school closures affect the kids but also the teachers, parents, and staff. “If those schools close, the school teachers will need to find new jobs, and kids will need to find new schools. It would affect everyone,” Foxe-Robertson explains.
Both would be “heartbroken” if their school closed now, and can only imagine what the kids of those schools are feeling. As said by Foxe-Robertson, “If OSA closed I’d be heartbroken. I get to do what I love and I get a great education. If OSA closed it would be so hard on me, my parents, and the teachers. I’m just thinking about so many kids who won’t get to experience learning about what they love.”
SOURCES:
- Ashley McBride's Article "Oakland educators poised to end hunger strike over school closures": https://oaklandside.org/2022/02/18/oakland-educators-poised-to-end-hunger-strike-over-school-closures/
- Zack Haber's Article "TWO OUSD STAFF HUNGER STRIKE TO STOP SCHOOL CLOSURE": https://thestreetspirit.org/2022/02/11/two-ousd-staff-hunger-strike-to-stop-school-closures/
- Judy Greenspan's Article "Oakland, Calif., teachers prepare to strike as school board orders school closures": https://www.workers.org/2022/02/61706/