Sunnyvale board reviews MOU to formalize collaboration with Fremont Union High School District

Trustees reviewed a proposed memorandum of understanding meant to strengthen collaboration between Sunnyvale School District and the Fremont Union High School District, aiming to improve transitions for students leaving Sunnyvale middle schools and entering high school. Chief of instruction (speaker 8) said the MOU would formalize practices the districts already do, protect shared data, and align efforts to support the district’s strategic goals, including inclusive learning environments and mastery of core content.

Parents and advocates at the meeting urged the board to specify how the MOU would protect student-level data and how family input would be integrated. Gabriela Conte, a San Miguel parent, asked the districts to design a pathway that preserves literacy and cultural competency for dual-immersion students so they do not “lose what they have learned” during the transition to high school. Another parent advocating for special-education supports asked the district to track outcomes of students with IEPs after they move to high school and to expand occupational-therapy and executive-function supports in earlier grades.

Trustees and staff discussed starting collaboration at the director level to build trust and then formalizing joint reports or shared data dashboards. Staff described the MOU primarily as a data-protection and sharing framework that will allow both districts to request and analyze information needed to improve transitions. Board members noted prior problems with certain transition experiences and said the MOU should help prevent mismatched expectations between districts.