{"id":117734,"date":"2026-01-02T19:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/117734\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:32:12","slug":"nvhs-60-year-journey-to-permanent-home-part-2-status-quo-for-neighbors-sports-clubs-or-equity-for-district-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/117734\/","title":{"rendered":"NVHS: 60-Year Journey to Permanent Home (Part 2 – Status Quo for Neighbors, Sports Clubs or Equity for District Students)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 2017, Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) has intended to build a new school for New Valley High School, and in 2024, the board approved a plan to move the school to a renovated Wilson Educational Options Campus. But despite years of very public discussion and planning, opponents of the Wilson plan continue to attack the plan.<\/p>\n

Part 1 reviews the history of the plan<\/a> to move New Valley High School to the Wilson Educational Options Campus.<\/p>\n

The principal objection to moving New Valley to the Wilson Educational Options Campus isn\u2019t about logistics or whether the campus can provide what the school needs. Instead, the argument is one about neighborhood ambiance and the availability of school fields for non-SCUSD groups.<\/p>\n

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Wilson is already home to district Adult Education, Wilson Pre-School, Wilson High School self-study program, Family-Child Education, Independence Network and Student Services, including the SCUSD Enrollment Center and the Family Resource Center. These programs bring people to the campus throughout the day and evening. The proposed plan will use about one-third of the remaining open space on the campus.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a group calling itself \u201cSave Our Green Space \u2013 Stop New Valley\u201d started a petition. They have been vocal at the townhalls, and, at the most recent meeting about New Valley in November. Some even disrupted the meeting by interrupting speakers and catcalling.<\/p>\n

Opposition comes from neighbors and non-SCUSD groups complaining that New Valley would bring more traffic to Benton Street, harm the environment and interfere with Little Leagues and cricket clubs that use the fields. All of which amounts to \u201cpotentially jeopardizing our community\u2019s well-being and serenity,\u201d says the group\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence of a high school so close to a residential area brings forth immense challenges \u2026 Benton Street, already bustling with transit, will likely become a hub of morning and afternoon vehicular activity,\u201d with the result that \u201cincessant noise from school activities will pose a significant disruption to our daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally a middle school, Wilson School has been on that site since 1955, adding a new administration building in 1982.<\/p>\n

Commenters on the site are more pointed. \u201cRaphael\u201d writes: \u201cWe have enough class room [sic] there should be a [sic] open field and not boxes.\u201d Another commenter, \u201cJanelle,\u201d summarizes their opposition as, \u201cThis is ridiculous given the amount that we pay in taxes just to live in our beautiful city.\u201d<\/p>\n

One commenter, \u201cCaroline, Oakland,\u201d likely damaged opponents\u2019 cause more than helped it with her comment: \u201cThere are already other high schools in Santa Clara. We don\u2019t need to invest $125 million in an alternative school. That money would be better spent on kids that want to be in school and have not been expelled from the existing options!\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Valley budget is $62 million, none of its students have been expelled from other schools, and at 60, it is an SCUSD program of long standing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s About Equity<\/p>\n

It is likely that no other students in SCUSD are sitting in classrooms that haven\u2019t been renovated or significantly improved in half a century.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not sexy to spend money on the disenfranchised,\u201d said then-Board President Vickie Fairchild at the \u00a0Oct. 24. 2024 school board meeting<\/a>. \u201cWe have some of our most needy students in the horrible facilities, and we have parents that scream about portables [on school campuses] all the time. The whole [New Valley] campus is portables.\u201d<\/p>\n

While building a new high school campus was \u201cfiscally irresponsible,\u201d said SCUSD Trustee Michele Ryan at the same meeting. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t give a solution to our students who are continuing to be in a campus that they shouldn\u2019t have been in for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge anyone to go to the New Valley campus and think that that\u2019s an acceptable solution for our students, our students who are at greatest need,\u201d Ryan continued. \u201cI would like this done next year and have them moved into a facility that supports them. What are we telling students to have them in that campus year after year after year and not serve them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recent New Valley graduate Jessica Buckley spoke on New Valley\u2019s students\u2019 \u201cdire need\u201d for a better campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled with my academics, as well as many others in 2020, so much so that I was needing to recover more than an entire year\u2019s worth of credits,\u201d she said. \u201cAt that point, I had no intention of completing high school. All that changed when I entered New Valley\u2019s program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buckley went on to detail the poor state of the campus: damaged ceilings, insufficient bathrooms, no cafeteria, limited space for school activities.<\/p>\n

She concluded, \u201cI ask you to consider the urgent needs of this district\u2019s most vulnerable students while making this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers at the 2024 meeting representing other programs on the Wilson site, while voicing concerns about how the proposal would work and how it might affect other programs, supported New Valley\u2019s need for proper facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole goal in attending today was to advocate for the [community] garden [at Wilson],\u201d said Julie Garrett, \u201cand I still hold that goal, but I am struck by the complexities of the problem that you\u2019re trying to solve. I think there\u2019s a lot of synergy that could be had here \u2026 Texting with other gardeners \u2026 [we said] we really want to get involved in \u2026 outreach to these incredible kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.<\/p>\n

Related Posts:
Santa Clara Unified: New Valley High School Finds New Home<\/a>
New Valley and Wilson Seniors Win Kiwanis Club Turnaround Scholarships<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas Wu, also wrote the following piece in the Wilcox Scribe: https:\/\/scribewilcox.com\/5382\/uncategorized\/new-valley-high-school-relocation-an-scusd-equity-issue\/.<\/a><\/p>\n

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