At its meeting on Tuesday, May 26, the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Education voted to approve the name for the new athletic field at Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School and discussed budget allocations by school and district department in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal.
[1]Board decides athletic field name
After four months of deliberation spearheaded by a naming committee made up of Encinal staff and alumni, the Board announced a shortlist of three names for Encinal’s new athletic field at its previous meeting on May 13 [2]. But in a survey completed by students, families, and teachers, there was no consensus on a preferred name among the Encinal community.
[3]Students overwhelmingly favored either “Jets Field” or “Jetway Field” almost equally, thumbing their nose at “Jet Pride Field.” Nearly half of Encinal families surveyed preferred “Jets Field,” with “Jet Pride Field” in second place and “Jetway Field” in third. Meanwhile, Encinal staff favored “Jets Field” and “Jet Pride Field” equally, at 39 percent each, with “Jetway Field” a distant third.
Taken as a whole, however, the winner is clear: “Jets Field” received 45 percent of the total vote, “Jetway Field” received 38 percent, and “Jet Pride Field” received just 17 percent.
[4]With perspectives divided, Board members tried to rationally choose the optimal choice. The naming committee had felt strongly about “Jet Pride Field,” as the name encapsulates school spirit principles that are present in the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program [5]. Trustee Carrie Hahnel said that the name “feels like the most practical solution,” but guessed that the PBIS connection was perhaps the reason the teenage students opposed it.
“I like ‘Jet Pride,’ too, but I also am going to honor what the voting shows, which is ‘Jets Field’” added Board Clerk Jennifer Williams. “I think 190 kids is a good showing.”
Board President Ryan LaLonde clarified whether the proposed name would be singular (Jet) or plural (Jets), and Senior Manager of Community Affairs Susan Davis answered that it could be open for the Board to decide. Hahnel then suggested appending an apostrophe to create a plural possessive, arguing that it could foster a sense of collective ownership.
In the end, the Board named Encinal’s new field as “Jets’ Field” with three yes votes, with Hahnel abstaining and Vice President Heather Little absent. Hahnel had proposed an amendment to the motion that would have left it up to Encinal staff to decide where the apostrophe goes (i.e., whether it should be a singular possessive or a plural possessive), but it failed to gather enough support to move forward.
No existing names (e.g., Willie Stargell Field or Don Grant Track) are being removed or altered as part of this field naming process.
State budget informs district funding
Later in the meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Business Service Shariq Khan detailed Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised 2026-2027 State Budget [6] and its implications for the district.
Notably, Newsom’s “May Revise” projects strong growth in personal income tax revenue from capital gains, a result of the stock market’s recent performance. That led the Governor’s office to propose a 4.31% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), made up of a 2.87% statutory adjustment with an additional 1.44% discretionary increase to address inflation. Since COLA is a key factor in deciding per-student funding amounts, this so-called “super COLA” means districts statewide could receive a significant funding increase.
In more good news, Newsom has also proposed a $2.3 billion ongoing increase in state funding for special education (SPED). For AUSD, this could mean an additional $3 to $5 million in revenue. And, if passed, a proposal to stabilize Expanded Learning Opportunities Grant (ELOP) funding could yield an additional $500,000 to $900,000 in revenue to AUSD each year.
Though Khan agrees these are positive developments, he warned these changes will not be incorporated into the district’s budget until the State Budget is finalized in July.
Khan also offered a detailed budget allocation breakdown by school site, department, and major programs, including a slide for each school identifying how funding sources are allocated to certificated and classified staff salaries, benefits, supplies, and services. Overall, over $40 million will be spent on about 4,200 elementary students, for an average of $9,566 per elementary student, and over $31 million will be spent on 3,400 secondary students, for an average of $9,050 per secondary student.
Similar breakdowns were included for each of the district’s departments, including Education Services ($12.8 million), Human Resources ($6.0 million), Business Services ($3.3 million), Fiscal Services ($4.4 million), Technology Services ($4.3 million), and Maintenance, Operations, & Facilities ($14.3 million).
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[8]Other notable items
At the beginning of the meeting, three Alameda students announced the launch of the Alameda Queer History Project. Among them was Luke Probst, who noted that Alameda’s rich history is missing many stories from the LGBTQ community about the activism and struggle for visibility and inclusion.
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“We, the Alameda LGBT youth and allies, take it upon ourselves to document the intergenerational tales of courage, determination, and grit through oral storytelling, so that future generations have history to stand on and be proud of,” said Probst. “The Alameda Queer History Project will be a living, digital archive preserving these oral histories and broader history of Alameda’s LGBTQ community, celebrating our local LGBT residents.”
The Board also voted to authorize the issuance and sale of 2022 and 2026 general obligation bonds.
Ken Der is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post [10]. Contact him via [email protected] [11]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Ken-Der [12].