Friday, March 18th, 4-6 PM Cole 1011 Union St., Oakland, CA 94607 Who smells something fishy here? (See notice from OUSD below.) Apparently, this event was rescheduled due to an inability to "confirm all of the candidates for the engagement." How convenient that prior to having obtained any input from the community through a survey and an engagement that would allegedly "inform the hiring of the next OUSD Deputy Chief for Programs for Exceptional Children (PEC)," the district will have already engaged in multiple phases of recruitment (phone interviews and in-person interviews taking place this week and next). How are we supposed to "shape the future" of PEC if we are not meaningfully included in the process? Many of you undoubtedly recall that this same tension arose when the previous director, Karen Mates, left office. At that time, parents and teachers questioned how active the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, which was made up of all the stakeholders in Special Education, would be in the process by which a new leader would be chosen. A hiring process for such a high stakes position should minimally reflect the one used in hiring principals and other key administrators, such as a formal selection committee representing key stakeholders affected by the hire along with opportunities for the larger community to shape the selection. This is especially important for a community as diverse and complex as the one that PEC serves. This is not true engagement. It is engagement in name only. We are entering this event without any criteria, without any sense of how we will participate, and without any conviction that what will be expressed will have any impact. Unfortunately, this is another example of the disregard that OUSD has for so many years demonstrated for a community and a student body that it is now alleging it wants to "include." So much for inclusion. With that, we encourage you to attend and let our voices be heard. ********************** Notice from the district: Shape the Future of OUSD Programs for Exceptional Children (PEC) We are writing with important updates regarding opportunities to inform the hiring of the next OUSD Deputy Chief for Programs for Exceptional Children (PEC). The community engagement event with candidates for the position of Deputy Chief of Community Engagement [sic] has been changed to Friday, March 18th from 4-6 PM at Cole 1011 Union St., Oakland, CA 94607-2236. As before, childcare and translation will be provided. We were unable to confirm all of the candidates for the engagement previously planned this Saturday. Therefore, there is NO engagement on March 12. The monthly Community Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Monday, March 14, at 6 pm, also in the Cole Auditorium. For more information about these events contact Ray Bermudez. Also, as we understand some people had problems with the previous survey link, please click here for an updated survey link to provide input on the hiring of the new Deputy Chief for Programs for Exceptional Children.