Staff and students at Paul Robeson Visual & Performing Arts High School are taking action to keep their school open after the Oakland Unified School District decided to phase it out.

"This is a clear case of shameful discrimination," said Steve Bronson, an art teacher at Paul Robeson. "If you've got private universities like Harvard setting up meetings for students at your school, then it’s obviously not a failing school. That doesn’t happen at a failing school, so this school is worth fighting for."

In a meeting held Tuesday evening, about 35 parents, students and staff met with State Administrator Vincent Matthews, who helps run the Oakland Unified School District. They presented testimonies of what the school means to them and why the school should not be closed down.

"Paul Robeson should stay open because it offers a nurturing environment to its students," said senior Jamonte Johnson, "I have a better connection with my teachers as well. At Skyline I had a 0.4 GPA, but now it’s up to a 3.69."

One mother said that she and her daughter have been in California for a year and a half and at Robeson her daughter feels safer, has better books, and has more opportunities.

Three teachers gave a PowerPoint presentation, which included information from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC.

"The commitment to a Visual and Performing Arts school has been eroded by the District by removing funding for a strong arts program," they read from a WASC report received this week.

The teachers also said the WASC Chair had told the school, "The district should not shut down Paul Robeson School of Visual and Performing Arts."

But even after the testimonials and PowerPoint, Matthews seemed fairly unwavering in his stance that Paul Robeson should close.

"We are going by our motto. ‘Expect success. Every student. Every classroom. Every day.’... And we feel that Robeson is not the best option for student's success."

This upset teacher Mary Graham and she responded.

"I have been with the OUSD since 1975 and I have never seen the district treat a school so badly... and a lot of the students are overachieving considering the treatment they are under."

The OUSD school board finalized its decision to shut down Robeson on Dec. 17. This was about two weeks after the district had announced the school’s closure without following proper procedures to notify the public, a violation of the Brown Act.

Starting next year, Paul Robeson will not have a freshman class. Each subsequent year, the school will lose a grade level, until 2012, when this year’s freshmen will be seniors and the school will shut down after their graduation.

But this decision has been considered "unfair" by many of the staff and students of the school. Staff members feel they have been discriminated against and that their school should not get shut down.

"We are being shut down because of our outspokenness of the conditions here, and if you protest too much or complain too much, you’re going to be dealt with mercilessly and swiftly. And it’s sort of a message to the other schools to take whatever is dished out to them," said Bronson.

Students also shared their feelings on the matter.

"It’s sad," said Juan Villa, a junior at Robeson. "The school doesn’t deserve to be shut down."

While the district seems firm in closing the school, a district official agreed that the way in which the Robeson closure was handled was not a model for the way they would like to see the process conducted but it was legal.

"The reasons for closing the school are legitimate although we can certainly improve the process moving forward," said district spokesperson Troy Flint.

Bronson also complained that Paul Robeson’s budget for next year is "just ridiculous," that the district has projected and "incredibly low" number of students and amount of money the school will receive.

"It doesn’t make sense," said Craig Gordon. "They [the district] say we will lose 45 percent of our budget but one grade level only accounts for maybe 20–30 percent of it. It only makes sense if they do what they’ve done in the past – that is, divert students away (from Paul Robeson) or make conditions here so bad that students want to leave."

Matthews told the group he would look over their complaints about the budget and get back to them.

In an earlier interview, Troy Flint responded to this assumption.

"School site budgets are complex and there are a lot of variables involved. You can’t conclude that one grade level accounts for 25 percent of the overall costs, especially in the first stage of a school phase-out," said Flint. "It doesn’t always reduce to simple math."

Paul Robeson staff and students say they will continue to fight the closing of their school.

"What’s really critical now is that we have parents come to the meetings and help us to turn this decision around," said Gordon

Bronson went on to explain the bigger picture behind this all is that "education cuts are so unnecessary." He stated that California is first in prison spending and 47th in education spending per student.

"After these next bunch of budget cuts, we’ll probably be dead last."