Pros
Berkeley High School’s large population means that students can come from neighboring cities to attend classes. Berkeley Unified School District is known to outpace schools accross the state, according to U.S. News and World Report, which catches the eye of parents looking into where their young kids will start school, or where their older kids will finish out their education. There are many benefits when it comes to interdistrict transfers, including a family aspect, academic fit, and increased diversity within BUSD schools.
At a school such as BHS, where there are so many different courses directed to the passions of students, academic fit is a factor for many families choosing to transfer districts. Unlike many other schools, BHS offers four different language courses, not including English. It also has unique courses such as Advanced Placement Black Patterns and Literature, Chicanx History, and Queer Literature. This diversity of courses lets students explore their interests beyond a traditional curriculum, and even gain college credit if the course offers it. BHS also offers a total of 35 AP courses, compared to 15 at Oakland Technical High school, 10 at Richmond High School and 21 at El Cerrito High School.
Mire Vu-Beavers, a senior at BHS and inter-district transfer from San Leandro, said that when it came to the choice of a high school to attend, hers was based mainly around athletic opportunities, and the clear choice was BHS. “I had played lacrosse for a really long time and I wanted to play in high school. But, the (other) schools either wouldn’t have a team or it was like a club team, so it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that they’d really have a team (or it wasn’t) a league team, like how Berkeley is,” Vu-Beavers said. BHS allows students to choose from 20 varsity and junior varsity sports, in addition to club teams, many more than other public schools offer.
Convenience in terms of transportation often plays a role in the choice too. Oftentimes, parents are able to drop off and pick up their students at school. Being able to attend a school in the city where the parent works is much more convenient in terms of transportation and a child’s safety. According to the California Department of Education, in the case of a parent as a teacher, the state’s “Allen Bill” permits “a school district to deem a pupil to have complied with the residency requirements for school attendance in the district if at least one parent/guardian of the pupil is physically employed within the boundaries of that district.”
Diversity is vital when it comes to the development of a school district and the students within it. Offering the ability for out-of-district students to transfer amends a certain amount of damage caused by the history of red-lining in the Bay Area– which often leaves predominantly white neighborhoods and cities with higher funded and higher quality schools. BHS wouldn’t be the same without interdistrict transferring. New important people and values brought to the community through transfer students are what make BHS unique and impactful, and also expands educational opportunities to those who wouldn’t have them otherwise.
Cons
Public schools are meant to serve everyone. However, who qualifies as “everyone” is often debated. Some interpret it as everyone within a school district’s boundaries, while others argue that students should be allowed to attend the school of their choice, even if they live outside its service area. This disagreement has become a point of contention in Berkeley, where residents have debated whether students living outside the district should be allowed to attend Berkeley High School. According to Trish McDermott, there were 419 interdistrict transfer students in the 2025-26 school year, making up 13 percent of BHS’ student body. Although interdistrict transfers offer families greater choice, they can affect the funding available to both the districts students leave and those they enter.
California school funding is based in part on enrollment, meaning districts can lose funding when students transfer out. According to USAFacts, California schools received an average of $25,300 per student from the federal and state governments and local taxes in the 2023-24 school year. Districts do not necessarily lose that when a student leaves, as the funding lost depends on its source and allocation, but a decline in enrollment can reduce the resources available for enrichment programs, athletics, counseling, and other school services.
This is a concern for Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), which faces declining enrollment partly due to competition from neighboring districts, including Berkeley. According to the Oaklandside, Oakland lost 252 students to Berkeley in the 2025-26 school year, with additional students transferring to other districts. The federal and state funding tied to students leaving Oakland for Berkeley is upwards of five million dollars. OUSD has also had to cut student services, including literacy coaches, music programs, mental health counselors, and college readiness counselors, amid budget challenges. Declining services can prompt even more students to leave the district. That loss of funding can then lead to more budget cuts, creating a vicious cycle of declining enrollment and fewer resources.
Although transfer students bring additional state funding, they can also access programs supported by local tax revenue without living in Berkeley or directly contributing to its local property tax base.
While interdistrict transfers offer choice to families in neighboring districts, the system becomes more complicated if they become the “default” choice for families living in neighboring districts who want to access high-performing schools such as BHS. A large influx of interdistrict transfers can impact how programs and services are allocated and delivered in the receiving district, while a large outflow of students can negatively impact a home district’s ability to sustain funding levels and student outcomes. Minimizing transfers would help keep funding within the district it is intended to support and prevent large enrollment shifts between neighboring districts.