Charter Renewal Hearing and the SCCOE Commitment

The Wednesday, September 16, 2026, Santa Clara County Board of Education (SCCBOE) meeting will start at 5:00pm. The Board will immediately adjourn to closed session to conduct three intradistrict hearings and discuss active and anticipated litigation; public session will reconvene after closed session.  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.

When open session commences, first up on the agenda, the Board will hear the Student Board Member Report, followed by Public Comments of Persons Desiring to Address the Board (for non-Agendized items) and 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.

Then, the Board will consider approving its Consent Action 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 Mid Autumn Festival and Recognizing October as National Bullying Prevention Month and Cybersecurity Awareness Month and a Reappointment to the Personnel Commission, Proposition 28 Report (arts funding), and Second Readings of Updated Board Policies. You can read more about all of them under agenda item 8.

Next, Dr. Toston and the Director of the Charter Schools Department, Dr. Michelle Johnson, will help the SCCBOE conduct Public Hearing on the Summit Tahoma Charter School Renewal Petition. This is a discussion item and Summit Tahoma's presentation and petition can be found under agenda item 9A. Summit Tahoma was approved on appeal from East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) as 9-12 charter school in 2010 and renewed in 2015 and 2021. They were supposed to renew in 2026, but because of COVID, renewal deadlines were changed per state law. In April 2026, the SCCBOE authorized the Charter Schools Department to send Summit Tahoma a Notice of Concern for having an underrepresentation of English Learners, Hispanic, and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged students in comparison to the district (ESUHSD) in which it operates. The Notice required a corrective action plan that could be incorporated into as part of their renewal charter petitions. As always, the public hearing will go as follows: 10 minute SCCOE staff presentation, 10 minute Summit Tahoma presentation, 10 minute ESUHSD opportunity to comment, public comment of one minute each, followed by the ability of Board members to ask clarifying questions.

Dr. Candi Clark, Interim Deputy Superintendent, Business and Operations, along with Lauren Ngyuen, Director Internal Business Services, will then present Budget Revisions for the Months of June 2026 and August 2026. This is an action item and the supporting documentation and all the details can be found under agenda items 11A and B. The short of it is that during the month of June 2026, the expenditure budget increased by $5,887,005; reserve for carryover increased by $169,724, and revenue increased by $6,056,729; and in the month of August 2026 the expenditure budget increased by $1,337,568, revenue increased by $269,061, use of carryover was $996,257, and use of fund balance was $72,250.

Dr. Heather Ferguson, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services will next present a Head Start Monitoring Update. This is an information item and the her presentation can be found under agenda item 12A. In March 2026, the SCCOE Early Learning Services Department received notification of the results of the Head Start Federal Monitoring Review.

The presentation will provide updates on how the areas from the reviews are being corrected, and the status of such.

Next, Dr. Kanika White, Associate Superintendent, Human Resources will present a Notice of Salary Increase by County Superintendent Pursuant to Education Code Section 1302(a). This is an information item. Education Code § 1302(a) requires any salary increase of $10,000 or more to be discussed by the County Board of Education at a regularly scheduled meeting. This month, Jessica Simpson was promoted, through a competitive process, to Chief of Staff & Strategic Initiatives which included a raise over $10,000.

Then, Dr. Toston will present the SCCOE Commitment 2026–2031. It is an information item and his presentation can be found under agenda item 12C. In short, the Board, the Governance Team, and the SCCOE are committed to Opportunity Without Exception for every student, every community, every day. This commitment is grounded in the realities experienced by children, families, schools, and communities across Santa Clara County, including economic inequity, housing instability, uneven access to early learning, literacy gaps, chronic absenteeism, and other barriers that can affect a student’s educational trajectory and establishes a vision for coordinated countywide action focused on the Board's three strategic goals: Cradle to Career, Community Partnerships, and The Whole Child. These goals emphasize pathways that prepare students for meaningful futures. Through this commitment, SCCOE seeks to align programs, partnerships, services, and resources around the needs of students and families, while strengthening collaboration with districts, community partners, public agencies, and other stakeholders. It provides a framework for organizational focus, accountability, and shared action in support of improved outcomes for children and youth throughout Santa Clara County.

Please note, these are just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 9/16/26 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.