Santa Clara County Education Digest

A noose was found in a tree outside Branner Hall, and campus police are investigating it as a hate crime.

Rob Jung is running for a seat on the Milpitas Unified School District’s Board of Education. A parent of two Milpitas High School graduates, Jung has been a resident of Milpitas for nearly three decades.

Three candidates—Pedro Avila, Claudia Lourido-Habib and Brian Sanders—have been selected as finalists for superintendent/president of the Gavilan Joint Community College District. All three will participate in an open forum on May 18.

The University of California system this fall will begin to pay the tuition for California residents who are Native American. The decision could affect more than 600 students. UC President Michael Drake said the move would “advance critical efforts to expand student diversity and make the University of California more affordable.”

Sandra McGonagle, who has been in leadership in the Los Altos School District for the past 12 years, is the school board’s choice to replace Supervisor Jeff Baier, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

For the second time in less than two years, a recall attempt aimed at the Cupertino Union School District Board of Trustees missed its target. Efforts to recall three members fell short of the 11,542 signatures needed to make the ballot.

Castilleja School took a hit to its plan to expand student population and reconstruct its campus after a divided Planning and Transportation Commission voted to scale back the school's growth plans and restrict special events.

California is delaying a coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren until at least the summer of 2023. The state was the first to announce a mandate, but it will not take effect until federal regulators give final approval to the vaccine for children.

There are approximately 6 million items in the inventory of the California State Library. Four million of those are books, and nearly 2,000 of those are law books.

Two inescapable issues in Silicon Valley—lack of affordable housing and declining school enrollment—are closely tied, according to a recent report commissioned by the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

After community college enrollment collapsed in late 2020, California lawmakers came up with $120 million to help stem the tide of departing students. So far, progress has been uneven.

Faced with the possibility of major housing growth in Mountain View, education officials are looking for ways to fund new schools. But the city says one of the methods the Mountain View Whisman School District is considering could block new housing construction.

State legislation taking effect in the fall requires all school districts to add free programs for children who turn 5 between Sept. 2, 2022, and Feb. 2, 2023. Known as transitional kindergarten, this pre-K year teaches students important life skills.

Alameda Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman capped UC Berkeley enrollment at 2020-21 levels, after Berkeley citizens sued over the toll that enrollment growth would take on the city. A Court of Appeals rejected UC Berkeley’s request Feb. 10 to undo that cap. Now UCB is looking to the state’s highest court.

In a 4-1 vote, the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees approved a resolution to transition from at-large to trustee area elections and to adopt Draft Map A, establishing trustee area election boundaries.

Kiyoshi Taylor and Kenan Moos, co-founders of the Los Altos-based racial justice organization Justice Vanguard, have created an educational resource titled “100 Years of Black History.”

After a dozen years leading the Los Altos School District and more than three decades in public education, Superintendent Jeff Baier plans to retire at the end of the school year.

San Jose State University has agreed to pay $560,000 to a former deputy athletic director who was fired after alerting school officials about student athletes’ complaints regarding the school’s then-director of sports medicine.

California schools currently only receive money for students who are present in class. A new bill might change this policy.

Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District Board of Trustees has elected Catherine Vonnegut as its new president.

Brigham Young University defeated Santa Clara in penalties during a semifinal match. They will now advance to the College Cup finale being held in Santa Clara.

Stephen Perez has been announced as the new interim president for San Jose State University, following the exit of its most recent president in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. He previously worked at Sacramento State.

About 200 teachers, parents, and children protested recently in support of teachers who have yet to come to a resolution with the Alum Rock School District despite months of negotiations.

Michael Tsai, a board member for Milpitas Unified School District, is claiming his fellow board members are preventing him from attending meetings.

Six Gunn High School students and their families have filed claims against the school over claims that the administration did not take action against bullying. All of the boys were allegedly targeted due to their ethnicity or special needs.

Three Cupertino Union School District board members will go through the recall process after a petition met its deadline.

A recent study revealed that where you go to college doesn’t always determine how much you go on to earn. Some Stanford degrees can expect to yield $24,000 the first two years following graduation, while a solid AA from a Bay Area community college can put you at six figures.

Los Gatos Union School District and Berryessa Union School District both approved a parcel tax in Tuesday’s election. This will increase funding for both school districts.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has opened a South County Annex in Gilroy. The new location is a destination for health services, early learning services, migrant education, and alternative educational opportunities.

Thuy Nguyen, the president of Foothill College for the past five years, has been released from her position following a faculty revolt.

Stanford University has received a 40 percent return on its investments, putting the university in a unique position to fund—among other things—more inclusion and outreach programming.

Over 310,000 Santa Clara County residents are participating in the 2021 Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill. This annual event is a coordinated earthquake drill between K-12 schools all over the region.