After years of cross-Bay commutes, Oakland Unified moves to bring specialized school closer to home

Oakland Unified is pursuing, for the first time, a local nonpublic school option for students with disabilities—after many families say their children have spent years commuting across the Bay Area for specialized support. The district says it has spent years

For two years, Atrina’s school day started long before sunrise—and usually ended with chaos.

Her mother. Lillian Ansari. remembers cars provided by Oakland Unified School District shuttling her daughter. then 12. across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to a nonpublic school in Marin. One drive could take up to four hours. The commute wasn’t just tiring; it was disruptive in a way Atrina’s days could not absorb. She has tuberous sclerosis complex. autism and epilepsy. and Ansari said that after interruptions to her routine. Atrina would come home “a mess when she got home. ” often freezing as the day unraveled.

Across Oakland, cases like Atrina’s are not rare. About 100 students attend “non-public schools,” specialized private programs for students with disabilities that are often located outside district boundaries. Oakland does not have nonpublic schools within the city, so families have no local placement to turn to. The result is a pattern that can turn school support into a long-distance logistics problem—one that Oakland Unified now says it wants to change.

For the first time, Oakland Unified is moving toward creating a local nonpublic school option. The district has formally issued a request for proposal, inviting nonpublic school contractors to apply to lease district facilities. Jennifer Blake. head of special education at Oakland Unified. said the district has contemplated opening a nonpublic school since 2019. but this is the first time it has taken the step of formally requesting proposals and exploring arrangements with providers.

The district is considering a model that could keep the school in Oakland while controlling costs. Blake pointed to an approach used by Seneca Family of Agencies and West Contra Costa Unified School District: Seneca operates a nonpublic school in a West Contra Costa Unified-owned facility at a reduced cost while reserving seats for local students. Blake said Oakland Unified is seeking a similar arrangement that prioritizes Oakland students through enrollment preference or reduced free tuition.

If the school opens, Oakland Unified says it will talk with families to consider location changes from other far-away nonpublic schools. It will also consider the program as a placement option for new referrals when a student’s needs are well matched.

Blake said Oakland students with nonpublic school placements are scattered across the Bay Area. She said 102 students are placed across 20 schools. With no single nonpublic school that fits every student, the choice depends on specific needs and instructional support. The Helix School in San Rafael, for example, specializes in serving autistic children and those with related developmental challenges. The Bayhill School in Berkeley specializes in serving students with learning disabilities like ADHD and dyslexia.

For many families, the distance is not the only problem. They describe a process that can be time-consuming and emotionally exhausting—especially when they believe a specialized setting is what their child needs.

Ansari knows that experience firsthand. She previously said her son—now 21—has autism and dyspraxia. She described how. during his time in Oakland Unified schools through fifth grade. he often “masked. ” suppressing behaviors associated with autism so he would fit in socially. In school. she said. teachers often told her he was doing well because he wasn’t “flinging chairs across the room.” But at home. Ansari said. the effort to stay composed would give way to anxiety and stress.

When Ansari and her husband asked for additional support, she said her son’s individualized education program, or IEP, team told them he was fine as long as he could access his education. After that, the family searched for a private placement and found Springstone School, an NPS in Lafayette.

During a campus visit. Ansari recalled her son turning to her and saying. ‘Mommy. pinch me. I can’t believe it. These kids are all like me here.’ She said that sense of belonging became a deciding factor. “As an adult, I want to be with people that get me,” Ansari said. “I want to be among my peers. Why would I want less for him?”.

Nonpublic school placement typically begins with the IEP process. If an IEP team—made up of family members. a general education teacher. a special education teacher. a district administrator and at least one other person—determines a student cannot get a free appropriate public education. the team may recommend an NPS placement. Parents can also request an NPS even if the IEP team does not recommend one.

In the Ansari family’s case, she said the district rejected their Springstone placement request. Tuition at the school starts at about $36,000 a year. Ansari said the rejection felt like a negotiation rather than a discussion of her child’s needs. “Their language they were using and the way they were treating us was like. are we still talking about my kid. or are we negotiating buying a used car. ” she said. “It really felt like it just comes down to the money.”.

After the denial. Ansari said the family faced a choice: keep their son in public school or pay for Springstone School themselves. They chose to enroll him at the school and hired an attorney. Over six months, she said, the family gathered evidence showing their son was doing significantly better at Springstone. Ansari said the district later approved the placement through his IEP. She described a later process for her daughter that she said was nearly identical.

Blake said she could not comment specifically on Ansari’s case. but pushed back on the idea that families must fight the district for nonpublic school placements. “If data show a student’s needs cannot be met in a public school setting. ” she said. “an IEP team should carefully consider an NPS placement.”.

For Oakland Unified, the push toward a local option is also a response to the financial and logistical weight of out-of-district placements.

Blake said the district is projected to spend $12.1 million for the 2025-26 school year placements. She said each student placed in an NPS costs a base sum of around $116. 000 annually. not including costs for therapies like occupational or other supports. She said full tuition can bump to between $200,000 and $250,000 a year.

Transportation adds another layer. If a student gets an NPS placement approved through Oakland Unified. Blake said the district is legally required to transport students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She said transportation can run between $20,000 and $50,000 a year for each NPS student.

With an Oakland-based nonpublic school. Blake said the district hopes to negotiate reductions in daily transportation rates in exchange for the lower building cost of operating in district facilities. She said shorter routes could also make it easier to transport students safely. “We would be able to successfully and safely get more students in a vehicle because they’re now driving 15 or 20 minutes down the road instead of an hour and a half. ” Blake said.

Behind these district-level calculations is a federal funding reality that disability advocates say strains districts and stretches timelines.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. passed in 1975. pledged the federal government would cover about 40% of the cost of educating students with disabilities. Karma Quick-Panwala. director of children and family advocacy services with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. said the federal government now pays only around 13% of the cost. leaving districts struggling to fully fund services.

Quick-Panwala said that funding gap cannot excuse the law. “So we need to look at how creative can we be to resolve disputes at the local level,” she said.

Anjanette Pelletier. a special educator for 25 years and director of management consulting services at the School Services of California. said parents across California often struggle to secure nonpublic school placements. One reason, she said, is a statewide shortage of placement options for students with more intensive support needs. “Sometimes the delay [in placement] is not that we disagree,” Pelletier said. “It’s that we can’t find a spot.”.

She also described another conflict: parents often focus on what they believe is best for their children. while districts must follow strict legal requirements about services and placements—when they can offer them and under what conditions. Pelletier said families can clash with districts when a student’s IEP process leads to an insistence on trying other steps first. “Sometimes. where the gap happens is when parents say. ‘I’ve been trying to get into a nonpublic school or this specific setting. ’ and the district says. ‘We’re obligated to try these other things first. ’ ” Pelletier said. “It’s a very frustrating process for families, and often for the staff of classrooms, too.”.

The law’s least-restrictive-environment principle typically points toward inclusion in general education settings when possible. Quick-Panwala said California data show that 60% of students with IEPs spend at least 80% of their school day in general education settings. She said research has found students with disabilities often perform better academically and socially when educated alongside nondisabled peers. She also said nondisabled students learn to navigate many different diversities and intersections when inclusion is done well. “We want to see our public schools embrace educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms. and providing them with the support and services they need there. ” she said.

Still, when specialized placements are needed, families can end up in disputes—sometimes without wanting to be.

Quick-Panwala previously helped Bay Area families secure NPS placements through her work at the Community Alliance for Special Education. She said it’s “not uncommon to see denials or delays in getting the appropriate support and services. ” and that many Bay Area families seek legal help to obtain NPS placements. She said the high cost of tuition can contribute to district resistance.

Sara Mohn’s experience shows how quickly the IEP process can shift from planning to advocacy.

Mohn sought legal help to secure an NPS placement for her daughter through Oakland Unified. Her daughter, Ila Mohn, now 18, has attended Star Academy in San Rafael since middle school. Before that. Mohn and her husband paid about $25. 000 a year to send Ila to a private elementary school without Oakland Unified’s support.

Around fourth grade. Mohn said the family reconsidered a public school and asked Oakland Unified to reevaluate Ila for the first time since she was 5 years old. Mohn said the new assessment showed significantly lower scores than her earlier evaluation, raising concerns. She said the family eventually paid $6,500 for an independent evaluation and requested an NPS placement through the district.

Mohn said the process was expensive, time-consuming and frustrating. “I was on the other side of the table than the district,” she said. “My kid wasn’t at the center of the decision-making.”

She added that experiences vary depending on the IEP team involved. Mohn said she knows another Star Academy family whose placement process through Oakland Unified was smooth because their team was thoughtful and supportive.

Blake said she could not comment specifically on Mohn’s case. but she said the district sees situations where “data-driven recommendations” made by IEP teams do not always align with what families want for their child. She said the district offers an alternative dispute resolution facilitator to work with families of students with IEPs.

Blake said the facilitator has helped resolve many disagreements without attorneys or formal legal action. She said this school year the district received 38 requests for facilitation services. Of those, 19 were resolved without escalation, 12 remain in progress, and only one advanced to a due process complaint. Blake said due process typically results in a “resolution session” between the parents and the district. and sometimes even a formal hearing.

For Ansari, the relief of a shorter commute has come only after moving.

Two years ago. she said her family moved across the Bay to Novato Unified School District so Atrina could live closer to her nonpublic school. Now, Ansari said, her commute is no more than 45 minutes, one way. She said the change has reduced stress on the family “at least to not have a bridge between us.”.

She also said opening a nonpublic school in Oakland could do more than cut time on the road. It could help children build friendships and community connections. Because many students travel from across Northern California to attend Bay Area NPS programs. she said. her children do not have close friendships with their classmates. “A lot of times we don’t even know the other families,” Ansari said. “In public schools. the families end up being friends — they’re all going to after-school activities and going on vacation together … So having a school in the community would hopefully support that being able to meet after school or have more family engagement.”.

At Star Academy, Mohn said she sees the difference a specialized environment can make in her daughter’s day-to-day sense of safety and belonging.

On a Friday afternoon in March, Mohn and Ila sat together in the living room of their Oakland home. Mohn held a fluffy cat; Ila held another as the sun set through tall windows behind them. Mohn asked Ila a question about belonging. “Do you, at your school, feel like you have a sense of belonging there?” she asked.

Ila answered with certainty, then corrected herself as she reached for the right words. “It’s my house — it’s my home,” she said, before correcting herself: “No, well, here’s my home.” Mohn added, “But it’s your home away from home,” and Ila nodded. “Yeah.”

Oakland Unified School District special education nonpublic schools IEP autism transportation disability rights Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Oakland