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The largest school district in San Jose does not broadcast its board meetings, potentially excluding voices from disadvantaged families who can’t attend in person. The San Jose Unified School District has not provided a live broadcast of its board meetings since May—despite the pandemic—when its board returned to in-person sessions. The only way residents can voice...
San Jose expands eviction help centers
East San Jose residents, who face disproportionately higher rates of poverty compared to other parts of the city, will soon have a center to help them battle evictions. San Jose’s housing department plans to open an eviction help center in East San Jose in the Franklin McKinley School District, which is close to lower-income families...
Silicon Valley health care workers need COVID shots or weekly tests
With coronavirus cases on the rise, California health care workers must now be vaccinated or get tested weekly for COVID-19 and wear masks, in accordance with a new state policy announced Monday. The policy follows a statewide surge in COVID-19 infection rates due to the Delta variant, now the dominant strain in California. As of this month, 80% of new...
Polling begins in San Jose mayor race
A mysterious text poll is gauging potential mayoral candidates’ viability in the race for San Jose’s top political seat. San José Spotlight learned about the poll from residents who received it. The poll in part asks respondents which potential mayoral candidate they’ll support. The election is next year, with Mayor Sam Liccardo terming out of...
Lack of hybrid learning leaves some San Jose students behind
Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced school districts to move to remote learning, Polly Ferguson said her fifth grade grandson could not read or grasp basic math concepts. That changed after 15 months of one-on-one tutoring and online school. But as school districts phase out online learning in favor of returning to in-person instruction, Ferguson worries all...
New proposal calls for investment in East San Jose businesses
Community leaders are calling for San Jose to invest in economic development of the east side, which they say the city has neglected for years. Rolando Bonilla, chair of the San Jose Planning Commission, spearheaded a proposal in June that asked the City Council to purchase vacant retail buildings in East San Jose and then give them...
San Jose residents urged to not use Fourth of July fireworks
San Jose officials are urging residents to not launch illegal fireworks this Fourth of July, fearing a repeat of 2020 when the fire department ran out of units to respond to emergencies. Last year, the San Jose Fire Department outsourced units in surrounding cities, but it still wasn’t enough, paired with the effects of budget...
San Jose cop’s push to kiss woman raises alarm
A San Jose police officer was reprimanded for trying to kiss a woman in 2020, but critics say the San Jose Police Department and its auditor are downplaying a clear-cut case of sexual harassment. According to the most recent Independent Police Auditor’s report, the officer “could have been innocently, albeit misguidedly, mistaken as to whether the...
Report: 1 in 4 San Jose police officers received a complaint
San Jose’s City Council mended fences earlier this week when it restarted a group to examine police reform. But findings in a report on police misconduct suggest the city has ways to go. The Independent Police Auditor’s report examined complaints of police misconduct in 2020 and contains key statistics that concern local activists, including those involved...
New poll finds South Bay residents rank housing as top concern
Without her grandma’s house to fall back on, San Jose resident Gem Schou and her parents would be forced to move out of Santa Clara County or move from house to house, renting. Schou, a 19-year-old cashier, believes the housing shortage in Santa Clara County is a crisis. When she moves out of her grandma’s...