The $50 Million View from Skyline High School. Photo by Richard Spitler

Tony Smith, the superintendent of Oakland’s public schools, says that he expects the district will have to cut its annual budget by $100 million over the next three years. District officials are already broaching the possibility of bigger classes and fewer teachers. But if Smith’s bleak forecasts materialize, those measures won’t be enough.

As one of the largest property owners in the city, Oakland Unified School District is looking at its 487 acres as a potential moneymaker. According to a report prepared by OUSD’s facilities director, the district is sitting on a lot of unused land. While OUSD enrollment now stands at 36,750, Oakland Unified has enough classrooms for 69,632 students. District spokesman Troy Flint said OUSD wants to find ways to either make the property generate revenue, or at least not drain resources.

Oakland Unified’s physical infrastructure is designed for a much larger school district. The district’s enrollment peaked at around 50,000 students in 2000, and has dropped by close to a third in the last decade. As a result, 85 percent of OUSD sites are underutilized. The average campus is using only 70 percent of its space. There are ten schools, which are utilizing 15 percent or less.

But that doesn’t mean OUSD should start selling property. No one is forecasting that Oakland Unified will return to an enrollment of 50,000. However there are 68,000 school age students in Oakland. There are 19,000 Oakland students currently attending private school, a figure that’s doubled since 2000. Part of the district’s strategy is to win back some of these students. If the district succeeds, it will need space.

This is not the first time OUSD has considered selling land. In 2006, the state administrator running Oakland schools made a ham-fisted attempt to sell the property around OUSD’s administration building in a deal that would have netted the district between $30 million and $50 million. An outraged school board successfully fought the deal.

Oakland’s real estate market is considerably different three years later, but the estimated land value for some OUSD property is still high. Skyline is estimated to be worth $54 million and Claremont Middle School is pegged at $30 million.