Info on the OUSD inter-district transfer to Piedmont schools
Hi there,
We live in Oakland, just across the street from Piedmont and two homes down from the district line. Our closest school is actually Wildwood but we are zoned for OUSD. Does anyone have experience applying for the OUSD inter-district transfer to a Piedmont school? When I looked into this process (https://www.ousd.org/Page/11633), it seems like it's a very high hurdle to transfer out from OUSD (e.g., you need to work in the other city, require a specialized specialized program that is only available in that new district, etc.) and a high hurdle to transfer into Piedmont public schools (e.g., remodeling a home in Piedmont, children of employees, grandchildren of residents, and the last category "other" for a lottery system).
I would love to find out whether it's worth a shot for us given the high hurdles.
Thank you!
Dany
Parent Replies
We know a family that got their kinder into Piedmont very easily this year. Could be Covid has effected enrollment.
My guess is that it's unlikely you will be able to transfer into Piedmont public schools. For AY2020-2021, there were 0 accepted transfers out of 41 applications from the "Other" category (of which I believe your situation describes). See page 4 of this memorandum:
https://www.piedmontcivic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IX_B_Backgroun…
We transferred both our kids in to PUSD from OUSD under the grandparent resident category, one about two years ago and the other about a year ago. Although OUSD's requirements for approving a transfer out sound like a high bar, in practice our experience was they rubberstamp it (we got approved almost immediately after submitting the paperwork). Anything you could come up with about why PUSD would offer something that OUSD doesn't would probably be fine.
PUSD is the real hurdle. It really depends on their enrollment numbers, and the number of spots open will vary by grade. A spot in our younger kid's grade did not open up until after the pandemic started. Not sure what the story would be today. I would recommend contacting the PUSD Superintendent's office, because staff there can probably give you a more realistic idea of what your chances would actually be. Good luck!
Hi there, Piedmont resident here. I've heard some discussion during PTA meetings around the interdistrict transfer process and my impression is that there were fewer lottery applicants than you might think. I can't speak to the Oakland side but from the Piedmont side I think it's worth a try!