San José Unified School District Explained

San José Unified School District
Superintendent:Nancy Albarrán
Teachers:1,412.15 FTE
Staff:Over 3,000
Students:31,713[1]
Schools:41
Coordinates:37.3361°N -121.9114°W

San José Unified School District (abbreviated SJUSD) is a TK-12 unified school district in Santa Clara County, California, that covers a large portion of the city of San Jose. The district has more than 3,000 full-time employees serving approximately 30,000 students in 41 schools from Downtown San Jose in the north to the Almaden Valley in the south. It is one of 19 school districts that serve parts of San Jose, the largest school district in the Santa Clara Valley, and the 24th largest in California.[2] [3]

History

San José Unified School District was established in 1853 as the San Jose City School District. The district adopted its present name in 1936.

In 1863, the district opened San Jose High School, the second-oldest public high school in California. In 1953, the district took over operation of San Jose City College from San Jose State College.

State law originally required school districts to be coterminous with city limits. San Jose's rapid expansion under city manager Dutch Hamann caused territory to be transferred to the San José Unified School District from the surrounding rural school districts. The rural districts used lawsuits to delay or block annexations in an attempt to preserve their tax bases. In 1954, the state passed a law allowing school districts to have distinct boundaries from cities, mostly confining San José Unified School District to its boundaries at the time. Christensen (2015) cites the resulting hodgepodge of school districts within San Jose as a contributing factor in the city's "fragmented politics, lack of identity and racial segregation". The law also required certain elementary districts to either build their own high school or be annexed by a district that already had a high school. Thus, in 1956, the voters in Almaden Union School District elected to merge with San José Unified.[4]

In 1971, parents in San Jose filed suit against the school district to force school integration. The district claimed that any racial segregation was due to housing patterns, not explicit policy. However, in 1984, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a desegregation order for the school district, embarrassing local officials.[5] The district responded by opening magnet schools and busing students.

In 1983, federal bankruptcy judge Seymour Abrahams declared the school board bankrupt under Chapter 9. The judge rolled back employee wages.[6]

In the late 1990s, a fire sprinkler broke in the basement of the district office, destroying many of the district's historic documents. District staff and local historians have been working ever since to rebuild the district archive.

By 2017, a high cost of living and housing shortage had contributed to the district's declining enrollment.[7]

In recent years, two reports by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury, Transparency in the San José Unified School District: Lessons to be Learned and District Adrift: Leadership Issues at San José Unified School District, criticize District leadership.

Over 164 years, San José Unified has supported 53 elementary schools, of which 26 remain active as of the 2017–2018 school year. Additionally, the district supports six comprehensive middle schools, six comprehensive high schools, a continuation high school, and an alternative education school.[8]

List of schools

School NameNeighborhoodStudentsFTE TeachersPupil/Teacher Ratio
Allen at Steinbeck (K-8)8074717.2
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Almaden Elementary School4152516.6
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Bachrodt Elementary School6443916.5
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Booksin Elementary School7943622.1
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Broadway High School2511813.9
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Canoas Elementary School4292717
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Rachel Carson Elementary School4222120.1
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Castillero Middle School12476120.4
Anne Darling Elementary School4733413.9
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Downtown College Prep3992516
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Empire Gardens Elementary School4501923.7
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Gardner Elementary School5492720.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Grant Elementary School6022821.5
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Graystone Elementary School7583621.1
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Gunderson High School11285719.8
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Hacienda Environmental Science Magnet School6883221.5
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Hammer Montessori Magnet School3121422.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Bret Harte Middle School19995621.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Herbert Hoover Middle School10936317.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Leland High School17958221.9
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Liberty High School3342612.8
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Abraham Lincoln High School17868421.2
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Los Alamitos Elementary School7033122.7
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Lowell Elementary School3992517.1
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Horace Mann Elementary School6143216
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Middle College High School42221
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
John Muir Middle School11785421.8
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Muwekma Ohlone Middle School8835120.2
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Olinder Elementary SchoolL Portugal4433213.8
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Pioneer High School16277721.1
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Reed Elementary School5132322.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
River Glen Elementary School5382620.7
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
San Jose Community High School1553
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
San Jose High School11195819.3
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Schallenberger Elementary School5642522.7
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Simonds Elementary School7193123.2
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Terrell Elementary School5292918.2
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Trace Elementary School10025119.4
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Washington Elementary School5073414.9
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Williams Elementary School7182825.6
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Willow Glen Elementary School7493322.7
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Willow Glen High School15897720.6
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
Willow Glen Middle School12277316.8
Notes(replace this with notes and un-comment line)-->
* Note: Based on data from the 2013-2014 school year

Transportation

San Jose Unified School District's bus fleet consists of the following

Historical fleet

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: K-12 Public School Enrollment: 4369666-San Jose Unified. DataQuest. California Department of Education. February 27, 2019.
  2. News: Students in largest Silicon Valley school district go back to class. Matt. Keller. KGO-TV. San Francisco. August 15, 2018. February 27, 2019.
  3. News: Vote Meek, Foley for San Jose Unified board. The Mercury News. DigitalFirst Media. San Jose, California. October 28, 2016. February 27, 2019.
  4. News: San Jose Mercury News. January 18, 1956.
  5. Vasquez et al. v. San Jose Unified School District. 633. F. Supp.. 808. N.D. Cal.. 1986.
  6. News: San Jose Schools Can Cut Pay, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Rules. The New York Times. August 30, 1983. B8.
  7. News: San Jose Unified School District Enrollment to Plunge Amid Skyrocketing Living Costs, Shortage of Single-Family Homes. Kris. Sanchez. KNTV. September 13, 2017. February 27, 2019.
  8. Web site: Find your school | Schools | Our Schools | San José Unified School District.