West Valley, Mission community college instructors say their workloads have increased significantly since the district switched to online learning because of the coronavirus pandemic
San Jose approves plan to expand internet access to all students
As part of an effort to expand broadband access across the city, San Jose lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously approved an update to a plan that will provide every student with digital tools and connectivity. Already struggling to close the digital divide, city leaders worry the coronavirus pandemic will exacerbate inequity among students at a time...
Silicon Valley schools scramble to close enduring gaps during COVID-19
When Bay Area schools closed overnight in mid-March, Miyuki Takeda-Bajan’s daughter couldn’t afford to take time off from her studies — she had an upcoming SAT exam and AP courses. But direction from the school district was slow to arrive. The junior at Pioneer High School in San Jose’s Blossom Valley scoured the web for free testing materials...
Santa Clara County schools leader talks transition, barriers to online learning
California’s nearly 6.3 million students and 300,000 teachers officially learned April 1 they wouldn’t return to physical classrooms this year, due to shelter in place orders mitigating the spread of the contagious coronavirus. “The decision to close schools is a painful one,” said Dr. Mary Ann Dewan, Santa Clara County’s Office of Education Superintendent, who...
Major San Jose State University employer furloughs hundreds of students
Hundreds of San Jose State University students lost their on-campus jobs amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic that’s shuttered schools, businesses and forced Silicon Valley residents to stay indoors since mid-March. San Jose State became one of countless campuses across the nation to shut down following government directives to shelter-in-place. Then one of the largest private...
In Santa Clara County, school is out for the rest of the year — sort of
Parents grappling with distance learning and homeschooling across Silicon Valley have waited weeks to hear whether local classrooms will reopen before summer. On Wednesday they got an answer: no. Superintendents across Santa Clara County sent out an email to parents around the region to formally announce that school districts would not reconvene physically this school...
San Jose teachers’ union calls for resignation of Evergreen trustee Jim Zito
A local teachers’ union stormed a school board meeting Thursday calling for Evergreen School Board trustee Jim Zito’s resignation on claims he’s been “controlling and inappropriate” toward female colleagues and community members. More than a dozen teachers and supporters from the Evergreen Teachers Association (ETA) held a news conference before the meeting, where several women...
Evergreen Valley College president ousted due to sexual relationship, records reveal
Former Evergreen Valley College President Keith Aytch was abruptly placed on leave last summer and forced to resign after details about an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship emerged, San José Spotlight has learned. College trustees accepted Aytch’s resignation on Nov. 12, 2019, three months after placing him on administrative leave and hiring an investigator. A public...
East San Jose school district OKs $23 million budget cut, staff layoffs
Citing a severe lack of funding, the East Side Union High School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously in a meeting last week to cut $23 million from its budget and eliminate 125 full-time equivalent positions across the district’s 16 schools. The board also vowed to hire a third party auditor to study the numbers again...
SJSU students look to Sacramento to help low-income students
With San Jose State having one of the largest homeless student populations in California, a group of students hope to address the problem by pushing for a bill that’s stalled in the state capitol. The Student Homeless Alliance (SHA) is backing Assembly Bill 1314, which would expand Cal Grant student aid to cover more college...