One of the highlights from the April 11 School Board meeting held by the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) was the announcement of two new principals for Scott Lane Elementary School and Peterson Middle School. Scott Lane announced Jeff Keller as the school’s new principal. Keller is replacing Scott Lane’s current principal, Priscila Meza, after the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Meanwhile, Peterson has hired Chandra Henry as the school’s newest principal. Henry is currently the Vice Principal at Wilcox High School and her appointment as Peterson’s newest principal becomes official starting on July 2019, replacing the interim Principal Brad Syth.
Bargaining Agreement Between the United Teachers of Santa Clara and the SCUSD
The current collective bargaining agreement between the United Teachers of Santa Clara (UTSC) and SCUSD expires on June 30. The UTSC and SCUSD have submitted their respective initial approvals for a successor collective bargaining agreement. In preparing the initial proposal, SCUSD has considered the Labor-Management Partnership initiative between SCUSD and UTSC. SCUSD’s proposal could enhance the positive relationship it continues to cultivate with the UTSC.
Thoughtexchange Community Engagement Platform
DecisionInsite consultant Tony Ferruzzo presented information about the Thoughtexchange Community Engagement Platform. Currently, Thoughtexchange has 678 participants who have shared 318 thoughts and 11,144 ratings. Two hundred and two participants shared thoughts, 263 participants rated thoughts and 328 participants commented on thoughts. In regard to the participants, 59 percent of them were elementary school students, 21 percent were middle school students, 13 percent were high school students and the rest of the 7 percent were from other groups.
SCUSD Safety Plan
The SCUSD Safety Plan is a comprehensive plan that includes school safety plans, safety assessment and goals, district policies and procedures, site-specific policies and procedures, disaster exercise and safety drills, and emergency preparedness plans. This plan has been organized by SCUSD administration, Santa Clara law enforcement, Fire Prevention Safety, School Site Council and staff members and students from the respective SCUSD schools. The SCUSD Safety Plan assesses student safety through surveys, behavior tracking or discipline data, threat assessment data, campus surveys from the Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD), local crime data and the Fire Marshal Report.
SCUSD policies in the Safety Plan are child abuse reporting, an earthquake plan, other emergency procedures, public agency use, suspension/expulsion policies, teacher notification of dangerous pupils, harassment/discrimination polices and bullying prevention. Specific school policies in the SCUSD Safety Plan include annual reviews of school rules, school dress codes, Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), annual review of the Safety Plan with specific school communities, addressing bullying/cyberbullying, harassment/discrimination and staff training. The SCUSD Safety Plan developed an emergency preparation plan in collaboration with the American Red Cross, the City of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara Fire Department (SCFD) and the SCPD.
Recognition of Crossing Guard Carl Smith
The SCUSD recognized Sutter Elementary School Crossing Guard Carl Smith who was nominated for the National Crossing Guard Award. For the Sutter Elementary students, Smith is a special adult that they can easily talk to because he genuinely cares about them.
“I like to get to know my families so they know I’m more than a face,” said Smith. In this way, he continues to build trust between himself and the families and students of Sutter Elementary for many years to come.
The next SCUSD School Board meeting is Thursday, April 25.