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OUSD can and must take action today
OUSD can and must take action today
All students in OUSD should have access to cool classrooms, not only students at schools that can raise funds through their parent-teacher organizations.
The cost for maintaining safe facilities should not fall on parents and community alone. Oakland's Measure Y raised $750 million for OUSD to repair, upgrade, expand and retrofit existing school buildings. Oakland property owners are paying for these bonds each year (and will pay for them through 2050) through a parcel tax.
Measure Y funds can and should be allocated to projects that improve safety for all students and teachers in our classrooms TODAY!
Affordable action for next school year
Affordable action for next school year
We want OUSD to immediately allocate Measure Y funding to improve the building envelope of schools to physically cool buildings by:
Funding approximately $3,000 per classroom at identified schools before the 2026-2027 school year to install tested-and-proven, easy improvements such as: UV-reflecting window clings, adequate blinds/shades, and ceiling fans. Cost - $6.3M for all 2,100 classrooms in OUSD without centralized, district-provided forced air (air conditioning).
Creating and implementing policy, guidance, and training on how current windows and fans should be operated to enable “night flush” of hot air out of buildings per OUSD’s thermal comfort research at all schools district wide. Cost - minimal investment of time.
Taking additional action, such as adding external shades to classrooms (specifically southeast and west facing) and shading classroom windows through adding trees (with needed insulation) or other green space outside of windows by the 2027-2028 school year. Cost - to be assessed.
*More will be needed to plan for a safe future with climate change.
OUSD should continue to design and fund more advanced cooling solutions, including mini-splits and electric heat pumps, as temperatures rise.
OUSD can and must follow it's own research and act NOW to improve its buildings before these HVAC systems are in place.
Where is action needed
Where is action needed
We can easily assess where intervention and investment is needed by looking at the:
2020 Facilities Master Plan, which lists school sites in descending order of facilities condition. The higher on the list, the more in need a site is.
Historic complaints of extreme heat.
Current complaints of extreme heat being provided through OEA and directly from students.
We created this map to track schools that likely need intervention.
Not on the map? Fill out this form and share the experience of your school to be added.
Where the money comes from
Where the money comes from
Measure Y
Measure Y
OUSD has millions of dollars remaining from Measure Y bond funds.
Oakland property owners are already paying for these bonds and will pay for them through 2050.
These funds can make a difference now, versus at some unspecified future point.
Additional Grants
Additional Grants
The Distict can and should apply for additional grant funding. However, it does not need to wait to receive a grant to act. It can start now using Measure Y dollars.
This is possible. Here's how:
This is possible. Here's how:
FALL/WINTER 2025
OUSD Board of Directors- Allocate immediate funding from third trache of Measure Y bond pull.
OUSD Facilities - draft policy and guidance on how windows and fans should be operated to enable "night flush" of hot air out of buildings.
SPRING 2026
OUSD Facilities -Direct Building & Grounds Supervisors to scope and plan for summer work. Source UV-reflective clings and/or contracts, UV-reflective blinds, and other supplies.
OUSD Facilities - Create heat safety training (could be added to online trainings, such as the pest mitigation module) to disseminate heat mitigation best practices such as how to operate blinds/windows on normal days and on extreme heat days to ensure student and teacher safety.
SUMMER 2026
OUSD Facilities - Complete summer renovations and CELEBRATE 🎉 !
Install thermometers funded via CalSHAPE in all classrooms district wide.
FALL/WINTER 2026
OUSD Facilities - Report out on progress.
Identify classrooms that remain either unsafe (above 82 degrees) or inadequate for educational achievement (above 75 degrees). Propose plan to resolve issue for these classrooms with additional investment (i.e. awnings, HVAC improvement, etc.). Plan should address the hottest classrooms (in absolute temps and those that remain hot for the highest % of the school week) first.
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