Charter Renewal, LCAP and Annual Audit

The Wednesday, February 4, 2026, Santa Clara County Board of Education (SCCBOE) meeting will start at 5:00pm. Contemporaneous public comments may only be made in person in the San Jose Room of the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE). Community members can follow SCCBOE meetings at home by clinking on this link and scrolling down to the Watch Live heading. If you cannot attend in person, and have a comment that you would like the SCCBOE to consider in its decision making, please email all of us prior to the board meeting at SCCBOEMembers@sccoe.org. The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this coming week's meeting can be found here.

First up on the agenda, the SCCBOE will recognize SCCOE's Employee of the Month, Kester Ajoku. Kester is a Special Physical Health Care Assistant in the Special Education Department and has been with the SCCOE for 21 years. This was a second career for Kester and he started as a sub. He was encouraged by his colleagues to become a permanent assistant and did not look back. His coworkers admire his work ethic and the fact that he treats his students as if they were his own child.

Next, the Board will hear the Student Board Member Report from our new student board member, Axel Andino, who was selected by his peers at Osborne. Axel will participate telephonically and will give the Board updates on the student happenings at our SCCOE run schools.

Then, the Board will hear Public Comments of Persons Desiring to Address the Board (for non-Agendized items), followed by Reports from SCCOE Bargaining Units (which include its teaching and staff unions, among others). For public comments, participants are given 2 minutes at most to address the Board, and the Board is not permitted to engage on the subject matter because it is not agendized.

The Board will next consider approving its Consent Action and Information Items. The consent part of an agenda generally includes non-controversial subject matters that can be approved all together if the Board all deems the items non-controversial and chooses not to pull any for discussion. For the SCCBOE, this part of the agenda typically includes minutes from the prior meeting, resolutions recognizing ethnic groups the county serves, specific educational initiatives, outside donations the county has received, disposition of surplus items, Head Start program reports, approval of board policy updates, and employee compensation increases over a certain threshold. This meeting's agenda includes resolutions recognizing the Lunar New Year, National Parent Teacher Association Founder's Day, Women's History Month,  and Arts Education in California/Youth Art Month and Music in Our Schools Month, along with requests to approve the Comprehensive School Safety Plans of our Court, Community, and Special Education Schools and acceptance of specific donations. You can read more about all of them under agenda items 6 and 7.

The Board will then consider the Request for Renewal of the Discovery Charter II (Falcon). This is an action item and their charter petition, the SCCOE Staff Analysis, Draft Resolution, and Falcon's presentation can all be found under agenda item 8A using the link provided above. The Charter School Department staff had some concerns, but recommends the Falcon be renewed for 5 years with the condition that they enter into an MOU and/or an addendum to its current agreement with the SCCOE on or before March 31, 2026 (or mutually agreed upon later date) that addresses Staff’s concerns and updates agreement between SCCOE and Falcon to be consistent with current law and SCCOE best practices, as well as any additional conditions identified by the SCCBOE.

Next, the Board will consider adoption of three Immigration Enforcement Related Board Policies. These are action items and the board policies can be found under agenda Items 8B, 8C, and 8D. The State of California is requiring all local districts and county offices of education to update their board policies before March 1 to protect the safety of students, families, and staff irrespective of their citizen ship or immigration status. These board policies modify the language to comport with SCCOE/SCCBOE sponsored AB49.

Then, the Board will hear the SCCOE's 2025-26 LCAP Mid Year Report. This is an information item and Dr. Wayne's presentation and the Mid Year LCAP can be found under agenda item 9A. In short, the report gives metrics on how the SCCOE run programs are doing and the expenditures made to that end. Like every year, and (quite honestly) in every district, it shows some improvement and some rooms for improvement.

Next, Stephanie Gomez, the Assistant Superintendent in charge of Business Services, will present the Board with Santa Clara County Office of Education 2024-25 Annual Financial Audit Report. This is a discussion item and the Audit Report can be found under agenda item 9B. The auditor, Christy White, found that the SCCOE's financial statements were "presented fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the Santa Clara County Office as of June 30, 2025, and the respective changes in financial position and, where applicable, cash flows thereof for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America." They found one audit exception related to the Home-to-School Transportation Reimbursement which requires local education agencies (LEAs) to develop, and adopt a plan pursuant to EC Section 39800.1(a). The SCCOE did not think it qualified for reimbursement for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, but later identified it was eligible for a $13,367 reimbursement, and did not have time to develop the Home-to-School Transportation Plan required by Education Code. The SCCOE will have that plan in place by 4/1/2026 for the 2025/26 fiscal year.

The Board will then receive First Readings of Board Policies on Complaints Concerning Instructional Materials, Uniform Complaint Procedures, Management of the SCCOE Assets/Accounts and Routine Travel Items. These are information items and the board policies can be found under agenda items 9C, 9D, 9E, and 9F. Action will not be taken on these policies until our next board meeting. This meeting is for the board to ask any questions or request edits.

The Board will next go into Closed Session to discuss anticipated litigation and active litigation.

Please note, these are just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 2/4/26 meeting. You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above. As always, feel free to email me with any questions.