Mar. 22 - Oakley kids who have been required to attend Antioch schools may now apply to go to school in their home town. Oakley Union Elementary School Board voted on March 13 to accept children from more than 1,000 homes located west of Empire Avenue in Oakley, which is within the boundary of the Antioch school district.

"We felt strongly that if we could find the room in our schools these kids should be allowed to go to school here" said OUSD Board member Lil Swank said, "It's been a touchy situation for a long time."

The decision to accept transfers came now for a couple of reasons, said Board President Bob Kratina.

"We opened Delta Vista (last year) and that gave us some extra room for middle school kids," Kratina said. "Also, we haven't seen dramatic growth lately (in Oakley) and that gave us confidence that we could make this work."

Proponent Kevin Romick, who heads Oakley Orphans (www.oakleyorphans.com), a group that was set up to lobby for the transfer, said about 500 students live in the affected area, but not all will result in new transfers.

"We think about half of the kids that live in the area have found a way to go to Oakley schools, already," Romick said. "We needed a way to get the other kids in." He estimated that 134 elementary, 76 middle, and 57 high school students from Oakley now attend Antioch.

The transfer out of Antioch must be requested in writing using an Inter-district transfer form that must be completed once a year. The form can be obtained from the Antioch Unified School District at 510 "G" Street in Antioch.

Once the transfer is authorized by Antioch, the form must be turned in to the Oakley School District at 91 Mercedes Lane in Oakley (grades kindergarten through eighth grade); or the Liberty Union High School District, 20 Oak Street in Brentwood (grades nine through 12).

Also, transfers will be authorized on a space-available basis, which could mean that a child cannot attend the Oakley school closest to his or her home if that school doesn't have available seats in the grade required. Space in any given school will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Actually shifting the school boundaries has been considered several times over the years, but re-assignment of tax revenue associated with the homes has been a stumbling block. The OUSD decision does not shift any funding.

Its transfer goal now realized, Romick said the Oakley Orphans organization will now spend more time and effort on making travel routes to the various Oakley schools more safe.

By Ray Carter