Transferring out of the Oakland School District
Related Pages: Transferring to a different school within OUSD ... Transferring into the Oakland School District
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Transferring from Oakland to Berkeley school district
March 2004
Can anyone give recent feedback on the process of getting permission for an interdistrict transfer from Oakland to Berkeley public schools for Kindergarten (and beyond)?
I read what is on the website but it is a few years old and some of the posts are conflicting. My oldest will be starting school in 2005 but we are looking at housing options now and wondering if the changes going on with OUSD will affect our ability to get permission to leave OUSD and how possible it is to get into the Berkeley system, should that end up being our best choice. Does anyone have recent experience or informed predictions?
I'm also curious if the changes at OUSD will reduce the ability to transfer within OUSD to Peralta - the closure of other nearby elementaries may mean Peralta is going to be more crowded?
I realize this is probably a gamble, but I'd like to at least know my odds!
I have a special needs child who went to OUSD from 2001-2003 - I was very happy with services offered through OUSD during that time. In 2003 I had very specific reasons why an interdistrict transfer would be necessary for my child. I was aware that in the past these were approved if the reasons were compelling. We went through the proper channels requesting the transfer and had doctors, teachers, etc. stating the transfer would be in the child's best interest. After numerous phone calls, letters and threating a lawsuit we received no response other than the same form letter that they are reviewing our request. (In the past response from the OUSD was immediate.) We began legal proceedings but decided that moving would be in our child's best interest. We were able to move into a new community one week before the start of the new school year. It was a stressful time but we definately made the right decision. Granted, our issues occured during the district shake-up, you may have more luck. Good luck. Sandy
I'm not sure how difficult it is to transfer systems and am not sure where you are located in Oakland. The Hillcrest School in Upper Rockridge is rated as one of the top elementary/middle schools in the district and is the only school in the district that rates similarly on a test score basis as Piedmont and Orinda schools. Over 60% of students' parents have masters degrees or higher level of education and there is a significant amount of private funding for the school. As a result the cuts in the Oakland school district have no effect on Hillcrest. The music, language, arts, and extra programs are all privately funded by local residents. I believe the schools raised over $500,000 this past year. Anyway you have to be a resident of Upper Rockridge to get into this school but if you are it is definitely an excellent program. Upper Rockridge Resident
I can't advise regarding inter-district transfers out of Oakland Unified School District, however, I do have some information regarding intra-district transfers from your neighborhood school to another school within the district.
During this past open enrollment for intra-district transfers, I found out that priority for granting requests for projected available space at schools within the district is given in the following order:
1. First priority is given to students requesting transfers from schools that have ''underperformed.'' This is in compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. 2. Second priority is given to siblings of students already enrolled at the requested school. 3. Third priority is given to those children needing after- school care, since not all district schools have after-school programs. 4. If there is still space available at a requested school, then a traditional lottery is held.
I was advised that due to the No Child Left Behind Act, intra- district transfers are highly unlikely due to the enormous number of requests from parents with children attending these underperforming schools. That is not to say it is impossible, just highly unlikely. I was advised that the best alternative for having my child attend our school of choice would be to move into that neighborhood. Hope this helps, and good luck with your housing decision. Charlotte
No, you don't lose your OUSD spot if you apply for an interdistrict transfer--in fact, transfer applications aren't even processed until later in the spring, so you likely won't hear back until after you are assigned to an OUSD school. (I also imagine PUSD won't know if they have spots until after their own enrollment process runs.) However, you mention that you don't have any familial connection to Piedmont--to meet the transfer requirements for elementary, you need to either work full-time in Piedmont or have your child care provider (whether that's family or a daycare that continues to school-age) located in Piedmont. The Alameda County Office of Education now processes interdistrict transfer applications for all of the school districts in the county, so you would apply to them. The OUSD website has information on which documents you need to submit to verify that you meet the transfer requirements.
The response you received is inaccurate. All school districts in Alameda County must the transfer application form created by the Alameda County Office of Education. The application is submitted to your district of residence along with any required supporting documents. If approved, the application is submitted to Piedmont (PUSD) for consideration. Per an agreement between all school districts in Alameda County, today was the first day applications could be submitted for the 2o24-25 school year. Check PUSD’s non-resident transfer page for information on their process and how applications are prioritized. The current policy gives priority to PUSD employees and City of Piedmont government employees, but no others.
If you have any questions after reading the page, contact Sylvia Eggert in the Superintendent’s Office at 510-594-2614. I hope this helps.
It's worth clarifying that the previous responses to this question are talking about two different things: the criteria for being released from OUSD (for elementary, a parent must work in Piedmont or the family's childcare must be based in Piedmont) and the process that PUSD uses to determine which of the students who have been released from their home districts will then be accepted into PUSD (applying criteria that prioritizes groups like children of city employees and grandchildren of Piedmont residents over other applicants). You must first meet the criteria to be released from OUSD through the interdistrict transfer process before the PUSD priorities come into play. At that point, if there are more approved transfer applicants than spots, the priorities for which students get those seats kick in--release from your home district doesn't guarantee acceptance into your preferred district. The OUSD website outlines the requirements for being released from OUSD, and the PUSD website outlines the priorities for accepting transfers into the district. The Alameda County Office of Education now manages the application process for all districts within the county, so you would start there.
Since we just went through this process, I'll add that we did hear back pretty quickly from OUSD once we submitted our transfer request. The next step is to forward the signed form to Piedmont Unified. It was unclear if that would happen automatically, so I did it "just in case" following these instructions on PUSD site: https://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/about/enrolling/transfers
Last step is to wait for PUSD to make their decision -- as others mentioned, it might not be for a while so you'll need to accept your OUSD assignment in the meantime.