Charter Notice of Concern, SELPAs, and More

The Wednesday, October 1, 2025, 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. The SCCBOE recognizes 10 SCCOE employee each year for their outstanding service to the county office of education and greater community. October's's recipient is Jose Vera, a Senior Buyer in Purchasing Services. He is commended for not only buying the best quality products for SCCOE programs, but also making sure to always have students' welfare in mind.

Next, the SCCBOE will receive the Student Board Member Report, and then hear Public Comments of Persons Desiring to Address the Board (for non-Agendized items). 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. Next, the Board will hear Reports from SCCOE Bargaining Units (which include its teaching and staff unions, among others).

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 Supporting Proposition 50 and recognizing Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month, Indigenous People and Tribal Communities During Indigenous Peoples' Day and Native American Heritage Month, along with a resolution certifying executive signatures for 2025, and request to accept donations. You can read more about all of them under agenda item 6.

Michelle Johnson, Ed.D., Director of Charter Schools, will next Request Authorization to Issue to Discovery Charter School II a Notice of Concern and Reasonable Opportunity to Cure Pursuant to Education Code Section 47607(e). This is an action item and the request and background can be found under agenda item 7a. Discovery Charter School II’s (DCS) enrollment data indicates that DCS is not serving all pupils who wish to attend which could endanger their charter renewal. While their demographic data indicate they have made some headway in disproportionate percentage of enrollment of some student groups, it has not been enough. The underrepresented student groups at DCS include English learners, hispanic, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. A Notice of Concern gives an opportunity to DCS to cure the issue by developing and implementing a corrective action plan before charter renewal.

Dr. Matt Wayne, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services, will then present on, and President Afzal Berta will Conduct a Public Hearing and Adopt Resolution Regarding Sufficiency of Textbooks and Instructional Materials. This is an action item and the resolution and link to the materials can be found under agenda item 8a. This is a process and resolution the Board is asked to approve every year in accordance with state law.

Next, Dr. Toston, Leo Mapagu, Executive Director, North West SELPA, and Shelly Ota, Executive Director, South East SELPA will present a SELPA Overview and Program Update. This is an information item and their presentation can be found under agenda Item 9a. There are two SELPAs operated in Santa Clara County, the North West and South East SELPAs. The presentation covers the configuration, finances, governance, and assorted data concerning the SELPA programs and the students they serve which include students educated in their local districts and at county clusters.

Then, Roger D. Gallizzi, Interim Associate Superintendent, Personnel Services will give a Personnel Services Presentation on Layoffs. This is an information item and his presentation can be found under agenda item 9b. In March 2025, because of several grants sunsetting, federal funding uncertainty, and state flat funding in the face of increasingly rising costs, the SCCOE, in accordance with state law, had to preemptively pink slip 448 employees for budget stability. In the end, with more federal funding certainty, the SCCOE laid off 183 employees.

Dr. Matt Wayne, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services, will then give a Head Start/State Preschool Funding Update. This is an information item and his presentation can be found under agenda item 9c. SCCOE operates both Head Start (a federal program) and California State Preschools (CSPP) to educate our most vulnerable 0-5 year olds. In a braided model, 1/3 of our funding comes from CSPP and the other 2/3 comes from Head Start. In both programs, we are given a maximum reimbursable amount as the ceiling for which we can spend. Both programs have their own specific rules as to what can be reimbursed and the students allowed to be enrolled in the programs. While the SCCOE may be entitled to a certain maximum amount in each respective program from the federal government and the state, they may not reach that level unless it gets enough students that meet the eligibility criteria and because of operational challenges of operating centers near where eligible students and families are located.

Next, the Board will go into Closed Session to hear one interdistrict attendance appeal. It is important to note, the SCCBOE is an appellate body for local school district interdistrict transfer requests, charter school applications, and expulsion decisions. The process and criteria the Board must use is outlined in Board Policy 5117 found here.

Please note, these are just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 10/1/25 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.