San Jose residents may be asked to support subsidized housing for Alum Rock Union School District teachers on the November ballot. The East San Jose school district is exploring whether creating below-market housing for its workers is possible. If officials find it is, the district will look to voters to fund the roughly $27 million...
San Jose schools are link to student mental health services
The COVID-19 pandemic has left an astounding level of youth and teens with emotional problems that have migrated from homes into San Jose schools. The crisis has sent school administrators scrambling to find mental health care professionals to deal with student disengagement, chronic absenteeism, disciplinary problems and the tragic loss of students by suicide. Yet,...
San Jose schools say COVID masks can stay—if students want
While some San Jose school districts are allowing for optional masking in step with new state and public health mandates, others are still requiring them. Almost two years after Gov. Gavin Newsom closed schools due to COVID-19, he announced indoor masking in schools would no longer be required as of March 12. Although case rates and hospitalizations...
Santa Clara County community college students prefer online classes
Santa Clara County community colleges are scrambling to offer late start classes and online learning after not listening to what students wanted. Faculty at many of these schools warned administration that school surveys showed students were not ready to return to campus. Online classes had waiting lists, while in-person classes had to be canceled due...
San Jose college teachers upset over lack of COVID vaccine oversight
As West Valley-Mission Community College District students return to in-person learning, faculty are petitioning for safe working conditions. Teachers distributed a resolution in late January stating the school district’s COVID-19 implementation plan is outdated, and the district is failing to verify student vaccine status. Kate Disney, president of the West Valley Mission Federation of Teachers, said...
Santa Clara County schools stay open as COVID continues
South Bay schools are facing increased challenges with student and staff absences as the COVID-19 omicron variant spreads. Despite that, it’s unlikely schools will close like they did at the start of the pandemic. State law requires schools to continue with in-person learning or face funding cuts. Maria Clayton, spokesperson for the California Department of Education, told...
Campbell school district, teachers reach contract agreement after months of protest
The Campbell Union High School District and its educators have come to an agreement after more than a year of negotiations and months of protesting. The agreement, approved at a Thursday school board meeting, includes a $5,000 base pay increase for all teachers, retroactive to last July, and a 3% increase in salaries scheduled to...
UPDATE: San Jose school district approves Glider Elementary sale to housing developer
The Oak Grove School District board of trustees voted unanimously Thursday to sell the shuttered Glider Elementary School to a housing developer, despite the pleas of numerous residents. The 9.5-acre site at 511 Cozy Drive in South San Jose is being sold to the True Life Companies for $26.6 million. The developer plans to build...
San Jose-Evergreen Community College District names interim chancellor
The San Jose-Evergreen Community College District (SJECCD) has appointed an interim chancellor after Byron D. Clift Breland’s sudden departure for a job in Southern California. Raul Rodriguez, who most recently served as interim president of Hartnell College in Salinas, started his new role this week. The district’s board of trustees voted unanimously to appoint Rodriguez to the...
San Jose police remain on campuses under new SJUSD agreement
Despite activists’ best efforts, San Jose police officers will be hired to patrol campuses of the city’s largest school district for special events. The San Jose Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved an agreement Thursday with the San Jose Police Department that outlines how cops will be used on campuses as security for...