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Oakland Parents Fighting School Closure Plans

OAKLAND (KCBS) – Plans to close several schools in the Oakland Unified School District have parents from one elementary school fighting the preliminary closure list, which was released last month.

Yasmin Anwar found out on back-to-school night that her second grade son's school, Kaiser Elementary, is among eight identified for possible closure.

"It's like your house is being foreclosed on and you've got to find a new place to live; that's how this feels," said Anwar.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

Anwar was among about a dozen parents at Tuesday night's Oakland Unified School Board committee meeting pleading Kaiser's case.

Suzy Hovland, who has a first grader, said that the district has mistakenly labeled Kaiser a "hills school."

"That comes with negative connotations of eliteness, which we are not," said Hovland. "This school has been a very diverse school for many many years."

District spokesman Troy Flint said that the district has to scale back to a manageable size to be effective.

"Right now we have 101 schools for 38,000 students," said Flint. "A typical district of our size in California has 30 to 50 schools."

The board will take up the preliminary recommendations next Tuesday with a final decision on 2012 closures on October 26th.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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