Oakland Unified approves interim superintendent

A new interim superintendent has been chosen for Oakland schools, the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education confirmed to KTVU. 

Denise Saddler will serve as the interim successor to Kyla Johnson-Trammell, who was ousted in a 4-1 vote in April.  

Saddler has been a Bay Area educator for more than 40 years. She's been a teacher, a principal and she once served as the Network Executive Officer for 15 North and West Oakland schools. 

The Board is now finalizing the contract terms, which will need to be formally approved at the upcoming public meeting. Until that is complete, OUSD says state law prohibits sharing details of the employment agreement.

The vote to approve Saddler comes just weeks after Johnson-Trammell was voted out of the role behind closed doors after serving eight years. While many community members and school board members questioned the reasoning for the vote, OUSD stated it was always a part of the district's plan for Johnson-Trammell to transition out of the role before the 2025-2026 school year. 

Earlier this week, the NAACP called for more transparency around Johnson-Trammell's ousting. 

"Superintendent Johnson-Trammell’s contributions were not only historic but stabilizing," the NAACP said in its Wednesday letter. "She successfully led OUSD out of 22 years of state receivership and oversaw a $100 million state loan repayment – an extraordinary accomplishment for our district."