OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) -- Wednesday marks two weeks since a shooting on an Oakland school campus injured six people including two students.
In a few weeks, Oakland residents will get a chance to vote for three open seats on the Oakland Unified School Board. Oakland Unified School Board candidate, Joel Velasquez, spoke about the shooting on King Estates campus two weeks ago.
Velasquez is currently running for a seat on the OUSD board representing the families and students where the shooting took place. "We have the ability to keep schools safe. We have to get communities together. These acts of violence will end when we have a capable school board to do that," he said.
Kyra Mungia is currently the board member for District 6 and also running for a full term. She was appointed by the board after one board member left.
"No one should fear for their safety at a school site. That's the one place, you should be guaranteed to be safe," she said.
Velasquez said keeping schools open is a priority, he protested with others the recent closure at Parker Elementary. He felt the closures have hurt the community and helped fuel disruption and chaos. "We have had bad policies," added Velasquez.
"As for Kings Estates we need to make sure policies are in place to make it safer, gates where people cannot just come in. And we are working on that right now," said Mungia.
Mungia is a former Oakland school teacher and current deputy Director of Education for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
KRON On is streaming news live now
Mungia said addressing school safety must be the number one priority to ensure all children can learn and excel. Valerie Bachelor is also running for one of the three open seats.
KRON4 reached out several times to speak with her, but she was unavailable. On her website, Valerie said that as an immigrant and professional organizer, she knows what it takes to bring people together and make schools better and safer for everyone.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/HK479rM
No comments:
Post a Comment