Neighbors urge Santa Clara Unified to hold open forum on Wilson/ New Valley transfer; board schedules follow‑up

Residents asked the Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees to hold an open, public forum after the district announced plans to transfer New Valley High School programming to the Wilson Adult Alternative School.

Karen Lin and a neighborhood organizer, who identified petition figures during public comment, told the board more than 500 people had signed a petition to save the green space around the Wilson site and that more than 100 community members attended the Oct. 6 meeting about the transfer. The speaker said 232 signatures were collected in the most recent week and urged the district to hold an open forum for residents to review plans, traffic and safety considerations.

"There are 502 people that have signed a neighborhood petition to save the green space surrounding Wilson," the commenter said during public comment. She asked the board to schedule a follow‑up meeting: "Set up an open forum to help everybody learn and share."

In response, Superintendent Damon Wright told the board a follow‑up community meeting is on the calendar and that staff were finalizing the date and location. Wright said a session was tentatively scheduled for Nov. 3 and would be advertised once logistics are confirmed.

Trustees did not take action on the transfer at the meeting. The item on the agenda related to the Wilcox interim vice principal appointment (action item K‑1) was pulled, and board policy BP4158 was sent back to the policy committee for further review. The board also said it would address amended minutes tied to the Aug. 28 meeting in a separate action.

Community members said they had difficulty seeing materials and hearing details during the earlier Oct. 6 meeting and asked the district to provide transparent plans and more opportunities for feedback before the transfer moves forward.