A community petition calling on Santa Clara County’s largest school district to support LGBTQ students has garnered hundreds of signatures. Eli Dinh, a part-time art teacher and parent at the district who is transgender, started the petition to protect LGBTQ students at San Jose Unifed School District. More than 250 signatures have been collected demanding...
UPDATE: Santa Clara County swaps land to build teacher housing
Santa Clara County teachers could have a chance to live where they work as county officials take the first step in creating new housing for educators. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted today without discussion to secure approximately five acres at 10333 N. Wolfe Road in Cupertino to construct affordable housing for educators....
East San Jose parents rally for principal’s return
East San Jose parents are calling for Alum Rock Union School District officials to reinstate a principal who was put on leave amid a sexual assault scandal involving a teacher. More than 50 parents, teachers and students rallied in freezing rain Thursday evening, calling on the district to bring back Maria Guadalupe Gutierrez, principal of Adelante...
Silicon Valley students stranded by shuttered schools
A popular Bay Area charter school system is closing its two Sunnyvale campuses this June despite months of attempts to save them, but parents and teachers said the ordeal is far from over. Board members from Summit Public Schools voted to shut down the middle and high schools in Sunnyvale, called Summit Denali, at a special...
UPDATE: East San Jose school district chooses a new trustee
Just two weeks after an East San Jose school board member quit, the board has chosen a replacement – and it’s a familiar face. After two hours of deliberation, Andrea Flores Shelton was named the Alum Rock Union School District’s newest trustee at a special board meeting Monday night. Flores Shelton beat out three other...
San Jose State University statue defaced
One of the most iconic statues in San Jose and the racial justice movement was defaced over the weekend. The “Victory Salute” statue at San Jose State University—which depicts alumni and African American Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos—was found defaced on Saturday, university officials said in a campus-wide email. The statue, which has...
Silicon Valley community college district could offer free tuition
Free community college is the ultimate goal for one newly-introduced state bill. California Senate Bill 629, introduced by state Sen. Dave Cortese, would allow the West Valley-Mission Community College District to stop charging its students tuition and cover other costs such as transportation and books. The bill, if approved, would expand access to higher education and...
East San Jose school board member steps down
Alum Rock Union School District board member Ernesto Bejarano has abruptly stepped down as the East San Jose district deals with a sexual abuse scandal. Bejarano, first elected to the school board in 2018, submitted his letter of resignation last week. He cited personal reasons for his departure. Bejarano won his 2022 election campaign for a two-year term....
San Jose schools prioritize student wellness over cops
Two of Santa Clara County’s largest school districts took police off campuses in the wake of the 2020 killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Three years later, advocates said that decision has allowed schools to focus on student wellness. The districts have expanded mental health programs and other services in lieu of funding contracts...
Sunnyvale charter schools lack funding to stay afloat
An imminent shutdown of a Sunnyvale charter school could be the result of longtime financial issues and lack of transparency. Officials with Summit Public Schools, which runs charter schools in Washington and California, provided information to the Santa Clara County Board of Education on Wednesday about the dire financial state of its Summit Denali middle...