Students, teachers and parents urge transparency on budgets, stronger safety responses and to keep school libraries

Multiple speakers during the public comment period pressed the board on budget transparency, staff reductions, student safety and proposed library closures.

Sarah Gianicaro, who identified herself as a Santa Clara County Office of Education employee and chapter president for the classified union, urged the board to "use an equity lens and be as transparent as possible by providing both the data and the rationales behind the decisions that are made." She asked that leadership include staff at all levels when brainstorming cost-reduction options and suggested reviewing district-office positions and possible consolidation of some programs to reduce overhead.

Student speakers and school-site representatives highlighted school climate concerns. Katie Hyung, the Student Governing Board representative, said the student input poll increased responses from 24 to 124 in three days and that the main student concerns have been "school safety and school climate and the cleanliness of campuses." Student JP Diaz, a sophomore at Evergreen Valley High School, and other students urged the board not to remove district libraries, saying libraries provide equitable access to literature and a safe space for students.

Parents and union leaders raised safety and discipline concerns. Juana Pino described an off-campus violent assault of her son and urged the board to revise student conduct policies so that students who have engaged in violent behavior are not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities until safety contracts and plans are followed. Jack Hamner, president of the Eastside Teachers Association, requested a formal investigation into alleged Brown Act violations at a February 13 meeting and asked the board to pursue a review of the earlier meeting.

Adeline Lee, a Student Governing Board representative at Independence, said her school had teachers who were uncredentialed earlier in the year, affecting instruction in Spanish 3; she urged earlier review during WASC visits and stronger hiring verification to catch credentialing issues.

Nut graf: Public comment aggregated a set of concerns that cut across budget, staffing and student services: community members want clear data on budget choices, involvement of site-level staff in planning, strengthened safety policy enforcement, and preservation of libraries and properly credentialed teachers.

Ending: Board members acknowledged the speakers, and several trustees thanked staff and volunteers. Trustees and staff also flagged follow-ups: staff were asked to prioritize agenda requests from trustees and consider reports back to the board on partner organizations and programs.