Santa Clara County Education Digest

For nearly 40 years, the SETI Institute, a non-profit research organization in Mountain View, has been searching for intelligent life forms beyond Earth. A philanthropic gift of $200 million is bringing this quest closer to reality.

Bracher Elementary, Briarwood Elementary, and Westwood Elementary schools finally have Master Plans to bring long-awaited upgrades to these schools.

Assembly Bill 1096, taking effect Jan. 1, will let community colleges in the state provide courses in non-English languages, regardless if a student is also taking ESL. Previously, a student had to sign up for the latter to qualify for the former.

California’s community colleges are seeing enrollment gains for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Older students—those over 50—are some of the first to return.

The Milpitas City Council unanimously approved plans to demolish a vacant, one-story industrial building on 6.69 acres of land at 1355 California Circle and replace it with 206 townhomes and apartments.

The Milpitas Library is now the site of a pilot program launched by the Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) called "The Library of Things," which offers borrowers a chance to bring home items other than books.

In a special election Tuesday, initial returns show Clay Hale, 28, leading his closest competitor to represent Area 7 on the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District Board of Trustees.

Young people are stuck earning low wages, working long hours—often while going to school—and often without benefits or work protections. Their hardships may hamper the state’s economy for years to come, researchers say.

UC Berkeley, Stanford and UC Davis are among the schools that have had incidents related to the Israel-Hamas war. Schools are working to keep students safe and prevent disputes escalating to violence.

The Los Altos School District's parcel tax measure received more than 75% support in the first set of results, well ahead of the two-thirds mark required to pass.

The Mountain View Whisman school board rejected a proposal to lock in the way it elects its officers, opting instead to maintain discretion in picking its leadership.

Tribes like the Muwekma Ohlone have been asking UC Berkeley for decades to give back ancestral remains from burial sites around the Bay Area. The school is in the process of repatriating 4,400 remains and 25,000 tribal items.

Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but among boys and girls, the likelihood is the same.

Los Altos School District is asking voters to approve renewing and growing an existing parcel tax levy in a special election. Measure A would enact a $295 annual tax on each parcel of land within the district.

As students at Stanford University reach the two-week mark of a sit-in on campus calling for the university to condemn Israel’s siege on Gaza and further support Palestinian students, they’re showing no signs of stopping.

The San Jose-Evergreen Community College District will be adding a new trustee to its board after the Nov. 7  special election. The community college district, which is governed by a seven-member board, has five candidates vying for the District Area 7 seat: Diego Barragán, Lisanna Dominguez, Stephen Eckstone, Clay Hale and Anthony Macias.

State law requires community colleges to spend at least half their general fund on instructors. But administrators say they want more flexibility to pay for the growing need for student services.

California’s low-income students, rural students and students of color were significantly less likely to have access to computer science classes, putting them at a disadvantage in the job market, according to a 2021 report.

In a move that many students and parents wished had been made sooner, the Palo Alto school board approved a pair of resolutions that condemn the Hamas attack on Israel and denounce both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Some advocates believe the state should expand the Cal Grant program for low-income students next year, even if that means pulling money from a financial aid program that benefits middle class students.

Members of the community argued during a school board meeting that a statement of support would go a long way in making Jewish students feel safe at their schools.

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to help student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

A new location for a Magical Bridge Playground, a playground accessible to people of all abilities and ages, opened at El Carmelo Elementary School.

Mountain View Whisman School District teachers and staff will get a 4% salary bonus next month, which the school board unanimously approved.

The Palo Alto Unified School District will temporarily ban members of the public from addressing the school board via Zoom, a prohibition that was inspired by a series of lewd, racist comments that disrupted a City Council meeting.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

Senate Bill 274 bars willful defiance or low-level behavioral issues from suspending students in grades six through 12.

Middle and high school students across California will be protected by a new law requiring life-saving prevention and response resources for fentanyl overdoses under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Councilmembers Pam Foley and Omar Torres have drafted a resolution supporting LGBTQ+ students in reaction to the efforts of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley to ban LGBTQ+-themed books and encourage parents to opt out of LGBTQ+ supportive school curriculum.

The Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees debated term limits for elected officials.

Mountain View City Council members unanimously approved extending a deal that shares property tax revenue from the Shoreline area with Mountain View school districts for three more years, as talks over a long-term deal continue.

Teachers and union members are demanding that one San Jose community college district increase compensation and health care benefits.