1. Enrollment Improvements in Oakland
November 16, 2015
Shannon Fitzgerald
Enrollment Strategies and Systems Consultant

2. Agenda Welcome and Introductions
What Work is Underway Relative to Enrollment?
What is Common Enrollment?
Common Enrollment in Oakland: Roadmap
Clarifying Questions
Small Group Discussion
How can you envision CE helping in Oakland?
What concerns you about implementing CE in Oakland?
What other questions or advice do you have for the implementation team?
Next Steps / Call to Action

3. 2 Separate – but related – Streams of Work:
WORK STREAM 1: OUSD Enrollment Policy & Operations
Owner:
OUSD
Problems Being Addressed:
“My child travels across the city to attend school because our neighborhood school is full.”
“I think there should be an enrollment priority for kids who attend our neighborhood high school’s feeder school.”
“The Student Assignment Center location is inconvenient for me.”
“The OUSD Options process is not fair.”
End Goals:
OUSD Board vote to change current policy
Re-engineering of current Enrollment office
Opening of satellite OUSD Enrollment Center(s)
WORK STREAM 2: Citywide Public School Enrollment Improvements
Owners:
OUSD, Ed78, GO Public Schools, Oakland Ed Fund, others
Problems Being Addressed:
“It is challenging to find unbiased information about schools.”
“It is difficult to apply and enroll in schools.”
“No one can explain to me why my child did not get into our most-preferred school.”
“My school had to let go of a teacher in September because my enrollment roster was over-inflated and students got called in off another school’s waitlist.”
“It’s not fair that some schools abide by their own rules around enrolling and withdrawing kids.”
“It is not fair that some schools do not enroll kids who are new-to-Oakland after a certain date.”
End Goals:
OUSD Board Resolution, stating they will participate in a city-wide system
Agreement from each Oakland-area charter school to participate in a citywide system
Implementation of city-wide system (contingent upon #1 and #2)

4. What is Common Enrollment?
A unified system of application and enrollment
for all public schools that maximizes
equity, transparency, and efficiency
COMMON APP
One application and lottery
One set of enrollment rules for all schools to follow
Tools to help families understand their school choices
One public school assignment for each student in Oakland

5. Features of Common Enrollment Systems:
Collaborative approach
Single application used to access all public schools
Single best offer system
Central clearinghouse coordinates allocation of seats
Safe for families to reveal true preferences
Results can be easily explained and audited
Annual cycle with many entry points (not just one lottery)
Demand-driven method of efficiently enrolling schools
Accurate enrollment data informs system-wide planning

6. What it is not:
A one-size-fits-all mechanism (must be locally crafted)
An attempt to support any one type of administration (district-run or charter)
An attempt to support any particular type of school
Prescriptive about education policy
An attempt to control or shape admissions policy at schools
An attempt to do away with neighborhood schools
About making computers pick schools for kids
A way to give everyone their first choice school
A direct method for improving schools

7. Common Enrollment In Oakland
What general questions do you have about common enrollment as a concept?

8. Common Enrollment in Oakland
WE ARE
HERE J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M
2014
2015
2016
2017
Define the Problem
Create CE Blueprint
4 Key Issues:
Difficult for parents
Inefficient school resource allocation
Lacks transparency & equity
Governance & structure
Get Feedback
& Approval
Build CE System
(People + Process + Technology)
Go Live!

9. Overview Oakland’s Blueprint:
One application, one timeline, and one lottery will be used for all students and schools
Proactive outreach will be conducted to “transitioning” students (e.g. those entering kindergarten, middle school, or high school), providing helpful information about all public schools available
Multiple enrollment centers will be available throughout the city to provide unbiased guidance to families
One set of enrollment “rules” will be followed year-round by all participating schools
Each student in Oakland will receive only one enrollment offer
No waitlists will be used
Open seats at schools may be filled with students who are new to Oakland or by those with an approved transfer request

10. Common Enrollment In Oakland
What questions do you have about how common enrollment would work in Oakland?

11. Questions for Discussion
How can you envision CE benefitting Oakland families? What about schools?
2) What concerns you have about
implementing CE in Oakland?
3) What other questions or advice do you have
for the implementation team?

12. Next Steps
OUSD Board Resolution stating Oakland Unified schools will participate in citywide system
Individual charter school / CMO signatures on MOUs stating they will participate in citywide system
Implementation of citywide system

13. Thank You!

14. Appendix

15. OUSD Strategic Plan

16. 2015/16 Improvements Options Guide Online School Finder Tool
Common timeline for OUSD and charters
School Expo(s)
Others?

17. Implementation Timeline
Transitioning Student Outreach
Community Support
Notification of School Assignments
WE ARE
HERE
<- Ongoing Community Engagement ->
School Support
Gather Stakeholder Feedback
1st Round
Window
2nd Round
Window
<- Ongoing School Engagement ->
BoE Support
<- Ongoing BoE Engagement -> J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M
2015
2016
2017
Design Common
Enrollment System
Seek BoE
Approval
Staff CE Organization
Establish Operating Processes
Establish CE Owner & Governance
Obtain Participation MOU from Each LEA
Support Families & Schools
Select
Online School Finder Vendor
Build Online
School Finder
Build Student Assignment Algorithm
Run Combined Lottery
Select
Enrollment System Vendor
Build and Integrate Enrollment & Application Mgmt. System

18. CE Blueprint Design: Decision-Making Structure
15 parents from diverse areas of Oakland
Meets roughly once per month
Shares ideas, feedback, and insight about enrollment and school choices with Steering Committee
PARENT
ADVISORY
GROUP
12 people representing various Oakland-area stakeholders (OUSD, charters, community)
Meets roughly twice per month
Considers input from Parent Advisory Group and makes recommendations to Executive Committee
STEERING
COMMITTEE
4 leaders representing both OUSD and charter sector
Meets roughly once per month
Considers recommendations from Steering Committee and makes final decisions
EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE

19. Charter Sign-on Will Require…
MOU by June 2016 with clear terms including:
Voluntary exit according to MOU policy
Clear definition of OUSD and charter school deliverables (including SLAs)
Common enrollment spelled out in district-charter compact with increased transparency and access articulated regarding Prop 39 facilities requests
Shared governance structure with equal representation from OUSD and charter LEAs
Annual audits by third party organization