What We're Learning & Achieving

Cool Our Schools OUSD is a movement, it's not a non-profit or organized group. Efforts are fueled on a volunteer basis from concerned parents, teachers, and community members. A lot has happened behind the scenes to make progress, and we realize we should have updated this website sooner! 

We'll do a better job moving forward.

Updates as of April 24

Hey Cool the Schools Community!

WOW, THANK YOU!! Director Berry’s resolution passed unanimously at this week’s board meeting. Watch the short agenda item here to hear heartfelt words of gratitude from Directors Hutchinson and Bachelor to this group for bringing these ideas forward and for our engagement.

For those who don’t want to watch, we want to uplift this quote from Director Berry. “Thank you to the community members who elevated this as an issue and would not let it go. It was a good experience because I got to witness what it felt like to be held accountable on an issue.”

What will happen at my school/ my classroom this summer?

The short answer is, we don’t yet know. The Facilities department is currently building the summer implementation list and we expect it to be released (at least partially) before school is out in May. Read the first draft of the implementation plan and Oaklandside’s summary of this plan for more info on what is known today.

• If you have questions or concerns about your school now or once specific plans are shared, the best places to start are with your principal, or for teachers your OEA site rep. You may consider also connecting with your school board director.

We’ll share updates and opportunities to engage when we hear them!

What about the items (like portable A/Cs) that the bond cannot fund?

ICYMI, the $8 million can be used to fund more permanent actions (like window films and ceiling fans) and cannot be used to fund temporary actions (like temporary portable A/Cs or portable fans). That’s why we are in conversation right now with many partners, such as Oakland Ed Fund, OUSD, and OEA to look at how we can engage the community to fill these gaps. We are working on a back-to-school supply drive to fill these gaps for next August.

• If you have capacity to get involved in planning this effort, we’re meeting Wednesday April 29 at 9AM – email us at cooltheschool1926@gmail.com 

• If you think you can support once the effort is planned OR you know your school will need these temporary items and cannot provide the funds yourself, stay tuned.

Updates as of April 18

The April 16 Facilities Committee meeting was productive and impactful:

Director Berry’s resolution passed 3-0 with Director Bachelor signing on as a co-sponsor to the resolution. 

The Facilities team, including superstars JaQuan Cornish and Olivia Boitano, presented draft 1 of the heat mitigation implementation plan that would support this resolution. We got key clarifications:

• The school list on page 28 is not complete but will be soon. If a school receives investment (such as window clings) on its second story, the first story at that school will also be tackled at the same time. 

• Ceiling fans are being assessed broadly for classrooms, not only priority classrooms. However, it makes the most sense financially and logistically to add fans along a broad lighting energy-efficiency upgrade in 2027. 💡 Did you know that most lights in the district are still fluorescent bulbs?

Parents, teachers, community members and CBOC leadership also provided additional feedback to shape the next draft of the implementation plan. We encouraged OUSD to focus on a smaller list of tactics spread through the highest number of schools in need and to not stop until work is complete/money is fully spent if the work isn’t finished by the first day of school. 

Oaklandside published a story summarizing the outcomes of this meeting and the plan on Friday, April 17. 

Updates as of April 15

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran has signed on to support Cool the Schools! Thank you Councilmember for your leadership! Read her letter here. 

Updates as of April 12

Here is the email sent to all petition signers this morning: Hello Cool the Schools Supporters,

The agenda for this Thursday’s Facilities Committee Meeting (April 16, 6PM) has been released, and with it comes BIG milestones on the path for safer, climate-resilient classrooms:

• Director Berry’s Resolution, Protecting Student Health and Educational Equity Through Urgent Districtwide Heat Mitigation will be voted on by this committee. If it passes, it will go to full Board vote on April 22

• Preston Thomas will be presenting the first draft of the Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Plan for 2025-2026, which details exactly what the Facilities department plans to do this summer.

• Director Bachelor introduced a resolution in support of California state assembly bill 1822, which would authorize the State Allocation Board to consider extreme heat and climate change in its priorities for school facilities funding. 

Our take: 

• We SUPPORT Director Berry’s resolution. This resolution listens to concern from the community, directs urgent and comprehensive action, offers appropriate guiding principles, and provides sufficient accountability.

• The Thermal Comfort Plan is a step in the right direction, informed by strong background research. However, the implementation plan will not achieve “measurably cooler classrooms by August 2026” as directed by Director Berry’s resolution. We plan to use this meeting to provide specific, actionable feedback so the Facilities department can present a more comprehensive plan to the board at the April 22 meeting. 

• We are NEUTRAL to Director Bachelor’s resolution. Although we support the goals of the resolution, there is no clear or timely impact that will be felt by OUSD teachers and students as a result of the board voting on this resolution. Therefore, we encourage effort to be spent on what the district can do to protect students NOW. 

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT:

• BEST: Plan to attend this meeting with us in person or via Zoom to speak in favor of Director Berry’s resolution and to provide feedback to the Thermal Comfort Plan. 

• ALSO AMAZING: Leave an e-comment on both of these items – takes 2 minutes to do! Follow the steps outlined here. 

• Ask your network – your school community, your neighbors, your Facebook friends – to sign the Cool the Schools petition. Can we get 600 signers by April 22?

Together, we can ensure that Director Berry’s resolution PASSES on Thursday so it can be voted on and adopted by the full board on Wednesday, April 22. We can influence the Facilities Department to take meaningful action for all students. 

Questions, thoughts, feedback? Email cooltheschool1926@gmail.com 

Thank you!

• -Cool the Schools Crew 

Updates as of April 4

• Here is the email sent to all petition signers this morning: 

You’re receiving this email because you signed the Cool the Schools petition. Cool the Schools is a campaign run by parent volunteers - hello from Alison, Dian, Kim, Lara, Leigh, Megan, Nicole, and Rachael. 

We want to provide a timely update on what we expect from OUSD’s board and staff on April 16 and April 22, how you can be involved, and how you can stay informed.

Key takeaway: We WILL receive significant updates on the district’s heat mitigation approach and what projects will happen THIS summer at the April 16 Facilities Meeting. 

We wanted to get this information to you sooner, as many of you have said you’d be more likely to attend meetings with more advance notice. However, this means that the agenda hasn’t been released. We do know there will be a few important agenda items:

• A resolution by Director Berry to “protect student health and educational equity through urgent districtwide heat mitigation investment” 🔥🔥🔥

• The district’s heat mitigation plan, the “how” this resolution will be implemented. This plan includes the rubric that will define which schools or classrooms will be prioritized and also what specific projects the district will seek to undertake this summer, what gaps remain, and what can be done about those gaps. A group of us were able to provide feedback to this plan, and we’re looking forward to seeing the final thinking presented to the board. YOU WILL want to see it for yourself! 

• An update on the Energy Management System work, which includes long-term HVAC strategy and approach. 

• We heard from Director Bachelor at the March 25 board meeting that she plans to author an additional resolution to secure additional funds from the state to fund these efforts. We are awaiting the agenda being released on Sunday, April 12 to see if this, or any other relevant updates, hit the agenda! 

After the April 16 Facilities Committee meeting, relevant presentations and actions will go to the board for a vote as early as the April 22 board meeting. 

How can you continue to make an impact?

Our voices are being heard! Yet, it’s only through continued presence and partnership with the district that we will make progress to cool our classrooms. Here is more information on how to attend upcoming engagements in person, virtually, or via written comment:

• April 13 - Citizens Bond Oversight Committee Meeting - Would like 3 additional attendees, Zoom OK. Is this you?

• April 16 Facilities Committee Meeting – SIGNIFICANT UPDATES AND DISCUSSION

• April 22 Board Meeting – KEY OPPORTUNITY FOR BOARD VOTE

• Spread the word - can our petition reach 600 signatures by April 16? 

We won’t email much, but will likely email again if there are major updates before either the April 16 or April 22 meetings. 

The success of this effort is thanks to teachers, parents, students, and community across every corner of Oakland Unified – all seven districts, and over 50 schools (and counting!) Thank you for the big and small ways you’ve advocated for safe classrooms for OUSD students and teachers. 

Thank you for your time and your support. Let’s get these schools cool!

~ Cool the Schools Crew!

Updates as of April 3

• Over 25 community members (parents and teachers) attended the March 25 Board Meeting to make public comment about immediate and long-term needs to ensure classrooms are safe from heat. Schools and residents from across all 7 districts were represented.  Even though this topic didn't hit the agenda until after 10PM, 22 community members made public comment. 

Updates as of March 22, 2026

• NBC Bay Area covered this important story at 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 on March 19, and was joined with Spanish-language coverage from Telemundo. Check out the stories below or here: NBC Bay Area, Telemundo

• Over 30 parents and teachers attended the March 19 Facilities Committee meeting, submitting 21 public comments live and over 100 comments online. Watch OUSD parents and teachers share the dire situation in OUSD classrooms (54:16) and continue watching the board discussion through 01:55:00. 

  • The stories told were upsetting to sit through, especially since OUSD could have prevented all of these from occurring. 

  • The data that was shared was powerful, and most questions were left unanswered. 

  • Will the board, or Superintendent Saddler, hold Facilities Leadership accountable to take immediate action? We will hear more next month, on April 16. 

Updates as of March 12, 2026

• The OUSD school board officially voted to issue $385M of General Obligations Facilities Bond (Measure Y) - This means the $8M allocated for heat mitigation in classrooms is officially available! 

• OUSD has begun the process to install thermometers within OUSD classrooms. We have requested information on how the public can access temperature data, and are waiting to hear back. 

Updates as of February 2026

• The draft Facilities Master Plan was released. Although many parts of the plan would impact progress on classroom temperatures, section 4.12 (starting on page 77) shows the feedback from the community was heard and integrated into this plan. 

• The Facilities Committee reviewed the Facilities Master Plan. We attended this meeting and left e-comments to make sure that leadership was aware of how fast Alameda Unified is working to implement passive cooling to cool classrooms, to inquire what progress has been made towards making similar progress in OUSD this summer, and to share our voices on the future of the Master Plan. We recieved no answers or clarification on summer projects or how the $8M allocated to heat abatement in Measure Y will be spent. 

Updates as of Jan 2026

• Preston Thomas and four members of his facilities team, including JaQuan Cornish, (our favorite project manager) came to Sequoia to see firsthand what had been done, to talk about next steps for Sequoia, and to talk about how this could be scaled district wide. Overall, the meeting was positive and collaborative. There were no specific follow-up steps agreed to, although comments from OUSD leadership seemed to indicate that if the Measure Y bonds were issued this winter/spring, work could happen to improve classroom temperatures as early as this summer. 

Updates as of Dec 2025

• In November, Facilities Leadership including Pranita Ranbhase (Executive Director, Facilities Planning) came to Sequoia's PTO community meeting to discuss Facilities Planning processes district-wide. At the meeting, the Sequoia community made it clear to the Facilities Team that although we understand the amount of work and strategy they put into facilities planning, it is unacceptable that so little progress has been made to solve this issue. 

• In December, the Facilities Committee held a session with all board members invited (all were present except Hutchinson) to discuss the Facilities Master Plan. No draft Plan was presented. However, we still advocated that this plan spread investment across all schools to fix egregious problems such as classroom temperatures. 

Updates as of Oct 2025

• A group of 20+ parents and teachers from schools including Laurel, Manzanita SEED, Montera, and Sequoia attended the October Facilities Committee meeting on October 19, 2025 to continue conversations with the district and demand action. 

• View the video here (items F1 and F3).