Parents, Kids Protest Sudden School District Transfers

Hercules parents and young students held a protest Friday after the school district notified them that some students were being shifted from Ohlone Elementary School to other schools less than two weeks into the new school year.

A crowd that peaked at about 75 people held signs and chanted outside the West Contra Costa School District office building in Richmond on Friday, decrying increased class sized and the shifting of students.

They said an unknown number of students had been sent home Tuesday with a note that they would be attending a different school the next day. Parent and volunteer Albert Chan, who led the chants and has two kids in Hercules schools, said the children affected are in kindergarten and first grade.

The sudden change in school assignments separated at least two students from Ohone and and another parent without transportation had to walk a child about a mile away to attend a different school.

The transfers have forced parents to grapple with arrangements for child care, work schedules and transportation, Chan said.

Chan said that possibly 100 students in the district had been affect by the changes, but that he had not yet received confirmation from district officials. Patch has asked the school district for a response by the school district and will update this article as more information becomes available.

Have you been affected by these transfers? Share your thoughts in the comments.