San Jose State University students achieved a small victory for peers in need of temporary emergency beds. The university recently agreed to allow students access to the beds for four weeks rather than 48 hours without asking them to take out a loan, Lana Gomez, president of the Student Homeless Alliance, told San José Spotlight....
Increased San Jose child abuse calls raise counselor concerns
Schools in the San Jose area are receiving an increasing number of calls for child abuse and neglect, and some counselors say they’re facing reporting problems. Parents allegedly have been allowed to sit in on, or flat out refuse, interviews with child protective services pertaining to children who report the abuse. That’s causing concern for...
CSU head names interim San Jose State University president
The interim president of San Jose State University has been named and will take on the role early next year. On Monday, California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro appointed Stephen Perez to take on the interim position. Perez is provost and vice president of academic affairs and a professor of economics at Sacramento State. He...
Top education leader is leaving San Jose community college district
The chancellor of San Jose-Evergreen Community College District is leaving his post for a new job in Southern California. Dr. Byron D. Clift Breland announced his resignation in a district-wide email Monday evening. He said he is taking a position as chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District. “I am proud of the...
Santa Clara County student homelessness fluctuated during COVID
The number of homeless students dropped in Santa Clara County during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some districts are seeing an uptick in the number of students struggling with housing this school year. The number of homeless students in the county declined by 13% between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, according to a report published...
Campbell teachers lose trust in superintendent, board of trustees
Tensions between teachers and a local school district are boiling over as disputes over pay increases continue. Last week, teachers in the Campbell Union High School District presented the school board with a vote of no confidence in Superintendent Robert Bravo, detailing his shortcomings during his five-year tenure. The vote, signed by 380 teachers—85% of...
San Jose State University student coalition wants cops off campus
San Jose State University students are calling for the removal of university police officers from campus in the wake of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests. Several SJSU student organizations met over Zoom at the end of September to discuss the formation of a “Cops Off Campus” coalition for the purpose of “disarming, defunding and...
San Jose schools need better tools for reporting child abuse
As children return to school, cases of reported child abuse have increased—and teachers need better ways to help their students. San Jose’s public safety committee, which includes numerous councilmembers and the county’s Children, Seniors and Families Committee, met Friday to discuss how child sexual abuse prevention measures can be handled more swiftly with cases on...
San Jose State offers beds to homeless students all year
San Jose State University students say the school is failing to provide emergency housing for those in need. The university agreed this week to extend its one-semester, 12-bed emergency program indefinitely, but students say they have to jump through hoops to receive services. “Requiring students to take out loans is making it impossible to get an emergency...
San Jose voters approve extending taxes for schools
Early results show South Bay voters overwhelmingly favor ballot measures to extend parcel taxes for two local school districts. Out of 65,005 registered voters in the two boundaries of Berryessa and Los Gatos Union school districts, only 17,622 voters turned out for the special election on Tuesday—about a 27% turnout rate, according to the county....