Alameda Unified School District

Alameda Unified School District
Type and location
Motto "Excellence & Equality for All Students"
Grades K - 12
Established 1964
Country United States
Location Alameda
California
District information
Superintendent Sean McPhetridge
Students and staff
Students 9,300
Teachers 540
Other information
Website alameda.k12.ca.us

The Alameda Unified School District serves the city of Alameda, California USA.

The school district is a "unified" district (in 1936), meaning that it includes K-8 schools and high schools in the same jurisdiction. As with all California school districts, it is not a part of the city government of Alameda. The school board is elected separately from the Alameda city council, and has been since April 1969. The city council has no direct power over the school board.

The AUSD educates approximately 9,300 students each year, in 10 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools. The district also operates an Adult School and a "Child Development Center". Three elementary schools were closed and consolidated at the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Miller Elementary, Woodstock Elementary and Longfellow Elementary students went to Ruby Bridges Elementary.

In 2009, the District received significant media attention[1][2] for controversy surrounding an anti-bullying curriculum approved by the Board of Trustees, known as "Lesson 9," which focused on reducing bullying against LGBT students. The curriculum sparked two lawsuits, which were subsequently dismissed.

Schools in this district

Adult schools

High schools

Middle schools

Elementary schools

Other/ Preschool

History of Alameda Schools

1855 Schermerhorn School located on west side of Court, between Van Buren and Jackson Street.

1860 Encinal School Located on Lincoln Avenue between Stanton and Paru Streets.

1874 Boehmer's Hall. A rented room on Park Street used a temporary quarters for high school.

1875 Park Street School was closed in 1879 with the opening of Porter School.

1875 Haight School Located at Santa Clara and Chestnut as combination elementary and high school.

1875 West End School Located at Fifth and Pacific.

1879 Porter School Located on Alameda Avenue near oak Street.

1882 Bay Farm Island School Rented building on Bay Farm Island.

1891 Everett School Located at the corner of Eagle Avenue and Everett Street.

1902 Alameda High School Located at 2200 Central Ave. near Walnut Street.

1909 Washington School Located at Eight and Santa Clara Avenue.

1926 Versailles School Bounded by Versailles, Lincoln, Pearl, and Buena Vista.

1927 Franklin School Located at Franklin Park, housed in a reconstructed cottage.

1944 Webster School Located in the Webster Housing Project.

1944 John Muir School Located in the Estuary Housing Project.

1946 Encinal School Located in the Encinal Housing Project.

1951 Woodstock School Located at 1900 Third Street, near Atlantic Avenue.

1951 Frank Otis School Located on Fillmore Street.

1952 Encinal High School Located at 210 Central Avenue.

1955 William Paden School Located at 444 Central Avenue.

1961 Donald Lum School Located at Otis Street and Sandcreek Avenue.

1965 Will C Wood Middle School Located at 420 Grand Street.

1977 Lincoln Middle School Located on Fernside and San Jose.

1977 George Miller Elementary School Located at 250 Singleton.

1979 Amelia Earhart Elementary School Located at 400 Packet Landing

1992 Bay Farm Elementary School Located at 200 Aughinbaugh.

2006 Ruby Bridges Elementary Located 351 Jack London Ave.

Alameda Board of Education

Listed is the current board (as of 2014) and their terms:

Listed are former Trustees:

In 1872 Alameda incorporated three communities into the city of Alameda, creating one school board. The city council appointed school board members until 1969. In 2004, 57% of Alameda voters removed all references to Board of Education from City Charter, effectively eliminating term limits for School Board members.

Listed are Superintendents:

Bond/Parcel Measures

Tax Bonds

The first school bond measure was passed 1874 and build the city's first high school and the main grammar school located on Chestnut and Santa Clara. In addition, the 1874 bond purchased property at Fifth and Pacific Ave and a school opened in 1875. In 1878 the next bond measure was used to purchase six lots on the south side of Alameda Avenue between Oak and Walnut. Porter School opened 1879. Additional bonds were issued 1894 to build four new schools. In 1901 high school students campaigned vigorously to get a bond measure to build a new $65,000 high school. Bonds elections in 1907, 1909 and 1915 funded the most ambitious building campaign. Three old schools were replaced with new structures and one new school was built. Voters passed a $750,000 bond in 1923 (supplemented with an additional $350,000 in 1925). As a result, construction of Alameda High School started in November 1924 and opened in August 1926.

In 1933, the Field Act was passed after an earthquake severely damaged schools in Long Beach. While Federal funds were used rehabilitate some existing schools to comply with the Field Act, a $222,000 bond was passed in 1940. With World War II, Alameda population exploded from 38,000 to 90,000. The federal government built three inexpensive grammar schools to serve children living in federal housing projects that housed the workers for the Naval Air station and shipbuilding yards.

In 1940s, the baby boom was underway with 15,000 Alameda babies being born. In 1948, a $2,840,000 bond measure was passed. The lion share of bond was used to buy land and build Encinal High School. 1n 1951 a survey showed 45 percent of children enrolled in Alameda schools had parents living or working on federally related properties. As a result, the school district received $2,250,000 from the federal government for school construction between 1951 to 1955. In 1953 $3,000,000 in bonds was approved. During the 1950s federal grants and bond revenues totaled $8,500,000.

In 1960s saw a frenzy of demolition and apartment construction in old Alameda and building out of South Shore led to an all-time enrollment high of 12,500 students. In 1967 AB450 required school districts to bring their pre-1933 schools up to structural standards of the 1933 Field Act by 1983 (the deadline was moved up to 1975 the following year). Inspection of Alameda's four pre-1933 schools (Haight, Porter, Lincoln and Alameda High) were ruled unsafe.

In 1964 a $4 million bond issue barely passed. Voters rejected bond measures in 1968, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976. During the 1970s the school district had to borrow monies from the state for school construction.

In 1989 a $47.7 million bond issue was passed, that originally cost taxpayers $103 for every $100,000 in property value. That amount declined to $59 per $100,000 in assessed value. This tax was originally set to sunset in 2014, but was instead kept in place to pay for a subsequent bond issue in 2004.[3]

In 2004 a $63 million bond issue, Measure C, was approved by voters,.[4] The measure refinanced the existing 1989 bond along with the new $63 million bond issue. The net effect was to keep taxpayer payments at $59 per $100,000 but extend the time from 2014 to 2034. The school district said on the ballot measure statement that it expected to qualify for over $17 million in state matching funds if the measure was approved. The district received about $14.8 million in State matching funds. As of the fall of 2013, Alameda residents could see the tax on their property tax bill as ‘Voter Approved Debt Service – School Unified.’

In 2014, Measure H, a $179 million bond issue, was approved by voters.

General Parcel Taxes

A four-year, $50 parcel tax (Measure A) failed in 1997. The election was on June 3, and the measure garnered only 57.5% of the vote, falling short of the two-third's supermajority required to pass.[5]

In 2001, a five-year $109 per parcel tax (Measure A)[6] was approved by voters.

In 2005, the parcel tax from 2001 (Measure A) was increased to $189 and extended for seven years.

In 2008, a four-year parcel tax (Measure H) was passed. The residential parcel rate was $120 and commercial rate was 15 cents per square foot, minimum of $120 and maximum of $9,500. Two lawsuits were filed challenging the legality of Measure H. Both parcel taxes, Measure A and Measure H, were set to expire in 2012.

In 2010, Measure E, which would have replaced Measures A and H with a new tax, and increased the rate from $309/yr to $659/year for a residential parcel, received 65.6% of the vote, falling short of the 2/3 approval required to pass.[7]

Following the failure of Measure E in 2010, AUSD placed a new ballot measure, Measure A, on the ballot for March 8, 2011. The measure as proposed would tax parcels at a nominal rate of 32 cents per building square foot, with a maximum tax of $7,999/year. Parcels with no building improvements would pay a minimum $299/year.[8] The measure passed with a 68% approval.

In 2013, the California Supreme Court held that a prior lower court ruling would stand, a ruling that upheld a portion of the Borikas lawsuit over Measure H, declaring that the school district could not set different tax rates for commercial and residential property, and setting the stage for a refund of millions of dollars of commercial property taxes collected under measure H.[9][10]

Lawsuits

References

  1. ↑ ABC News
  2. ↑ KTVU News
  3. ↑ "The Explainer: School bonds"
  4. ↑ "SmartVoter:Measure C Bonds"
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ LWV Smartvoter Guide
  7. ↑ "Alameda Unified School District parcel tax, Measure E (June 2010) on Ballotpedia"
  8. ↑ "Alameda Unified School District parcel tax, Measure A (March 2011) on Ballotpedia"
  9. ↑ "Alameda parcel tax shot down by high court"
  10. ↑ See SB 1021

External links