Lakeview Elementary Building Occupied

OAKLAND, California – The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is closing 5 schools reportedly due to budget cuts. However, parents, teachers, and community members are in an uproar as access to public education dwindles–particularly, in poor communities of color. In protest to the school shut downs, a handful of community members set up a tent encampment outside the Lakeview Elementary campus on Friday. In tandem with the “sit-in,” teachers have been organizing classes for kids at the encampment during the demonstration.

The tent sit-in continued into Monday morning, when police arrived and posted flyers stating:

Safe, healthy and supportive schools require good order and peaceful conduct. Notice. Willful interference with the good of a school is a misdemeanor. You are interfering with the good order and peaceful conduct of this school. You are directed to leave this school immediately and you may not return for 30 days.

The flyer continues by stating the penal code in violation and redirects all inquiries to the Oakland Police Department in lieu of the OUSD.

Around 10am, the demonstrators held a brief press conference then decided to open up the building. The police reportedly set the alarm off in the building, that continues to ring as of this writing.

A rally will be held today, Monday, at 4pm in support. Follow them on twitter.

Read more at Occupy California