Santa Clara County Local News

The flight of families due to the high cost of living in Santa Clara County has caused school enrollment numbers to crash in East and North San Jose — and it doesn’t look like that's going to change in the coming years.
Alum Rock and Berryessa union school districts are predicting enrollment declines of 27% and 22%, respectively. Franklin-McKinley School District is also predicting a 22% drop. Lump in the end of millions in federal COVID funding and the loss of state dollars due to a plunge in student attendance, and districts have found themselves in dire financial straits.
This decline in enrollment didn’t happen overnight. From 2010 to 2022 Franklin-McKinley's enrollment declined by 38%. The district was able to pass a parcel tax this year that will generate about $3.3 million for the next nine years, but it won’t be enough to cover the loss of state and federal funding as it tackles a $20 million shortfall.
Alum Rock is confronting the same problem. In the last nine years the district has lost more than 2,700 students. It has been so poorly managed, the Santa Clara County Office of Education has been involved in overseeing the administration. But with a $20 million deficit and enrollment dropping, seven schools may close.
None of these districts want to disrupt the lives of families, it’s a superintendent’s worst nightmare. But districts can’t keep schools half full afloat with the same overhead costs. The money just isn’t there.
Bond measures passed for capital needs such as building repairs and upgrades won’t get districts out of the hole either. Funding for curriculum and teacher salaries don't come out of these bonds.
There are only so many cuts a district can make before there is nothing left but to close or merge schools. Even the Berryessa Union School District in North San Jose needs to cut its operating budget by $6 million, and closing schools may be the only option.
It’s hard to envision these school districts gaining students in the coming years to restore funding, when minimum wage earners living in East San Jose need to work more than one job to pay rent and the cost of gas and food remains high. The inability to maintain a good quality of life in Silicon Valley is pushing families out and preventing others from arriving. Low birth rates are another factor.
Yet what’s happening today is not a one-off situation. In the early 1980s a slew of elementary and high schools closed throughout the county and state in the aftermath of Proposition 13. The proposition, which capped a property tax rate to 1% of assessed value, changed the financial landscape in education. Property taxes were no longer flowing into school budgets and districts began closing campuses or cutting budgets. Decades later the financial loss to schools still stings, especially those in marginalized communities where property taxes are lower.
But the circumstances today have worsened beyond the plight of school districts. Silicon Valley is confronted by a schism between the haves and have nots that has widened exponentially over the years, causing families to leave Santa Clara County for places more economically manageable. School districts have become collateral damage.
What is the same as the 1980s is family angst and disruption, and yet, in the process the money saved could be applied toward enhancing curriculum or restoring programs. Cash-strapped districts could lease closed schools to day care providers, private schools or businesses and use the revenue to improve existing schools. Maybe it’s a new arts or music class or the ability to add a new sports program or wellness center with a counselor.
At this juncture the strongest course of action for families, school boards and administrators is to work together to ensure the best outcomes are achieved for the children in the schools that remain open.
Moryt Milo is an editor at San José Spotlight. Contact Moryt at moryt@sanjosespotlight.com or follow her at @morytmilo on X, formerly known as Twitter. Catch up on her monthly editorials here.
The post Editorial: San Jose school districts struggle to stay afloat appeared first on San José Spotlight.

It has been an incredible privilege to serve as your advocate and representative for the past 16 years—first as a member of the Gilroy Unified School District Board, and for the last eight years on the Gilroy City Council.

West Hills Community Church in Morgan HIll invites the public to the fourth annual “Christmas on the Hill” lights extravaganza this holiday season. The free walk-through outdoor event features a vast array of Christmas lights, hand painted life-size displays, themed decorated Christmas trees, light tunnels and free hot chocolate and popcorn.

President-elect Donald Trump’s housing policy for his second term is vague at best. But based on available information, many California housing experts are not optimistic about what it could mean for the state’s crisis.

Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that residents were frustrated by economic problems and said that Democrats needed to address their concerns, especially in rural areas where support for Trump was highest.

The new hospital is set to open in the fall of 2029.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced the appointment of two Superior Court judges in Santa Clara County, Jon Heaberlin and Meghan Piano. The new judges were among 10 Superior Court judges and two Court of Appeal justices appointed statewide. Heaberlin has served as a commissioner at the county Superior Court since 2023. He was a [...]

U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) announced this week that Gavilan College will receive $375,000 from the National Science Foundation to support STEM education for Latino students.

U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) announced this week that Gavilan College will receive $375,000 from the National Science Foundation to support STEM education for Latino students.

Tristan Arfi, a convicted sex offender, is the chief operating officer and manager of the boxing gym “YBX Fitness” in San Jose. Arfi is accused of committing multiple felony sex crimes against two customers and a gym employee.

Sunnyvale is taking steps to make its downtown more inviting for residents and visitors alike by beautifying its most historic block.
The Sunnyvale City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved concept plans to turn the historic Murphy Avenue block of downtown into a permanent pedestrian mall, with Councilmember Russ Melton absent. The plans include more bike parking near Washington and Evelyn avenues, as well as handrails and sloped paths for better accessibility.
Sunnyvale Downtown Association Executive Director Mike Johnson said the organization and its board support the plans. The concepts have gone through multiple iterations, and he said the new plans balance the various needs of potential visitors and businesses along the street.
“We’ve got about a 2-mile radius that we protect and I think … we’ve done a great job with what we’ve had to work with,” Johnson told San José Spotlight. “I think what’s coming is going to be phenomenal.”
Converting Murphy Avenue into a pedestrian mall is part of a massive facelift Sunnyvale’s downtown is undergoing. For the past several years, developer Cityline has been building up housing and retail in the area, bringing in an AMC theater and Target.
Johnson said it’s important to bring representatives from all types of businesses together to help with the reimagining. Most of the businesses along Murphy Avenue and others in the surrounding area are small or family owned.
Councilmembers asked questions about the plan’s specifics at the meeting, such as more signs for parking and cycling, but ultimately supported the plans. City employees estimated construction could begin by fall 2025 and end as soon as early 2026.

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UC Santa Cruz recently acquired and established the Strathearn Ranch Natural Reserve, a 2,400-acre oak-studded grassland property in San Benito County that will be used for field research and outdoor education for the university’s students, staff and researchers.

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San Jose is inching toward its housing and homelessness goals, but still has a ways to go before it can shelter thousands of unhoused residents.
The city released its latest annual homelessness report in early November detailing its progress in cleaning up the streets and waterways, sweeping encampments and building temporary housing. It met some goals, such as expanding weekly trash pickups and sanitary services to RV residents. But a number of goals missed the mark, like providing 300 people with short-term rental assistance through its rapid rehousing program and hiring people with lived experience to do street outreach for those in need of  mental health services.
Mayor Matt Mahan said he's asked for more frequent progress reports, not just yearly updates, to ensure funding is properly spent on reducing the number of unsheltered people. There are roughly 6,340 homeless residents in the city — with about 4,400 being unsheltered — and nearly 10,000 countywide.
“We can and will do more to get people off our streets and out of our creeks. This report highlights the progress we've made since shifting to an all-of-the-above approach and shows us how much more we still need to do to end the era of encampments in San Jose," Mahan said. "We need to be able to see what's working and what's not on a regular basis so we aren't wasting taxpayer dollars on programs that aren't moving the needle."
This fiscal year, the city converted two hotels to temporary housing through state funding from the Project Homekey program. The 72-room Pacific Motor Inn had its grand opening last month, operated by nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), and will provide temporary housing, meals and supportive services as individuals transition into permanent homes. The former 61-room Pavilion Inn, renamed Sunrise Pavilion, was converted into 43 studio and one-bedroom affordable apartments to house youth emerging from foster care.
The expansion of the Rue Ferrari tiny home site in South San Jose also broke ground last month, with 107 homes being added by next year with the capacity to house up to 146 homeless people. By the time the city’s four other tiny home projects come online, San Jose will have a total of nearly 1,300 beds.

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Civic-minded residents of Santa Clara County are invited to apply for service on the 2025-26 Civil Grand Jury, a component of the judicial branch that is dedicated to upholding transparency and accountability in local governance.

A San Benito County Sheriff’s correctional officer was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence with his children in the vehicle, according to authorities.

Live Oak HS Football (3-8 overall)

Christopher HS Football (9-2 overall, 6-0 BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division)

Santa arrived prematurely at many large retailers, and despite the economy being cited as the reason for voting preferences, consumer spending is at an all-time high. Oscar Wilde said “living well is the best revenge,” but perhaps in today’s parlance it’s more like shopping well. And lucky us, as Los Gatos is truly a mom-and-pop commerce mecca. Were parking less of a hassle, this town’s businesses might see even more foot traffic during the holiday season.

The allegations were hard to believe.
Initial reports of a child sex abuse investigation into San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres reeked of a political smear to his supporters, who had yet to see key details, in early October. For more than a year, the District 3 official faced incessant online vitriol for being an openly gay elected leader, which often pushed myths about queer people grooming children. Homophobic emails flooded his office for inviting a drag queen to perform at a council meeting last year — a historic gesture for the LGBTQ+ movement at a time when conservative states outlawed public drag shows.
But Torres’ reassurances — that the investigation was baseless and he was the victim — later spelled a shocking betrayal for people who found not only inspiration, but hope, in his success as a gay Latino political figure. Police filings made public in the subsequent weeks revealed Torres not only asked for sex with minors in 2022, but admitted to molesting an underage relative in the 1990s. Authorities are now trying to uncover more potential victims.
“We’ve already seen the resurgence of anti-LGBTQ forces,” Shane Patrick Connolly, the openly gay chair of the Santa Clara County Republican Party, told San José Spotlight. “Then something like this happens.”

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