Whether grabbing drinks at Starbucks or food at 7-Eleven and Nob Hill, journeys down Monroe Street to Monticello after school may be projected for a lasting transformation.
On October 24, the community brought discussion for New Valley High School’s relocation to the Santa Clara Unified School District Board. They discussed the probable future for project funding and location; with Monticello as one of six anticipated candidates for the relocation project.
New Valley High School is one of many alternative education pathways offered by SCUSD. Despite the overgeneralized reputation of alternative education students—students who fell too far behind in traditional education curricula or misbehaved—alternative education pathways such as those offered by New Valley High School serve as extended opportunities for student success despite the factors contributing to disadvantaged learning environments.
New Valley offers progressive contributions to a more equitable education system, allowing students from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education and expanded opportunities. But despite making progress in education, New Valley’s campus is regressing, —deteriorating with age and limiting New Valley Students.
While discussions for New Valley’s relocation have only recently been brought to the Board, development has been long overdue. Under neglect, halted stakeholder communication, and consequently outdated funding plans, project proposals have resorted to the Board for more decisive action. Specifically, the school looks for a vote on a location for development, hoping to spur forth the process.
Under development delays and community-wide controversy, New Valley High School’s anticipated development has only grown more complex. The community-government searches endlessly for consensus, juggling pivotal factors for funding which could make or break the success of New Valley’s expansionary prospects.
Back in 2018, ballot Measure BB projected a $62 million need to fund New Valley’s infrastructure relocation and development. However, the absence of a widely embraced project proposal between community and government stakeholders stalled the project and has resulted in an increasing budget-need. Now, with inflation alongside new program and state requirements, the projected funding-need has skyrocketed to $125 million. The project’s daunting price tag further ignites hesitation to improve alternative education,perpetuating the cycle of passivity among Santa Clara’s policy making progress.
The elusive funding issue has raised questions among the SCUSD’s Board and alternative education community: Why has initiating this project taken so long, after a decade of pleas and six years since the first proposal? New Valley’s infrastructure improvements remain controversial as SCUSD is hesitant to pursue a budget-consuming project. “It’s fiscally irresponsible for us to start thinking about building a brand new campus, but the other problem with that is it doesn’t give a solution to our students who are continuing to be in a campus that they shouldn’t have been in 18 years ago,” says, Trustee Ryan, one SCUSD board member. The circumstances of SCUSD’s most recent budget-intensive projects—the Laurelwood and Agnews campuses—make it unlikely development of another campus will be pursued. But why is New Valley’s development delayed despite having a comparable timeline to these projects?
“Frankly, I would like this done next year and have them moved into a facility that supports them… to have them in that campus year after year after year and not serve them?” Trustee Ryan, like many others, perceives budget sacrifices as necessary to fix a long-neglected problem.
A critical component to consider among discussions for New Valley High School’s relocation and expansion is their student demographics. As with many alternative schools, New Valley’s student body mostly consists of marginalized groups: racial minorities and the socioeconomically vulnerable. Reiterated by the National Center for Youth Law, Census data from California School Dashboard reports alternative education settings enroll a disproportionate number of Black, Native American, Latino, socioeconomically disadvantaged, disabled, foster care, and homeless students.
SCUSD’s decreased priority for New Valley High School’s student success reflects a systemic issue; a power dynamic which results in government policy redirecting resources away from high-need communities. “It’s not sexy to spend money on the disenfranchised,” another SCUSD board member adds, satirizing a mindset common among policymakers and stakeholders. But SCUSD falls in line with this narrative with their deprioritization of New Valley’s development.
Christine Berdiansky, program administrator at the Santa Clara adult school—another alternative education pathway offering ESL, high school diploma, and career training programs—claims, “if we are an equitable district, [funding for New Valley] should have been at the top priority before Laurelwood was born, was built before even Agnews and the other sites were built over there.” Santa Clara’s developments of new campuses like Laurelwood and Agnews campuses have taken resources which could have been spent on New Valley’s reconstruction, to benefit their disadvantaged students. Voices advocating for Laurelwood’s developments were swiftly acted upon. So why aren’t the voices for New Valley treated with the same magnitude?
Concluding the October 24 meeting, the Board passed Dr. Ryan’s motion for New Valley High School’s relocation to the Education Options Campus. The campus proposal consists of other SCUSD alternative education pathways: Wilson High School, Post-Secondary, and Family Child Education. Details will be discussed with committees of all relevant parties and brought back to the Board within six months. A plan implementation will happen within three years.
New Valley High School’s years-long fight has yielded only a temporary, combined campus solution. This highlights our district’s imperfect political priorities, and the need for better resource allocation to high-need communities like New Valley.
