When the new school year started, the four Solorio siblings — a kindergartner, sixth-grader, eighth-grader and high school sophomore — sat in a circle in their family's cramped RV, parked on El Camino Real across the street from the Palo Alto school district's office, and tried to focus on online school.
About 20 nonpublic schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties serve some of the education system's most vulnerable students when public schools can no longer do so.
Tension that loomed in a packed boardroom in East Palo Alto three years ago — between those who support families hopeful for a high-quality public-school alternative in their community and those who feared that the success of charters would come at the expense of neighborhood schools — has only intensified since, polarizing the community.
One family's case illustrates how the Palo Alto school district is struggling to find and uphold clear lines when it comes to addressing bullying complaints.
For years, J. kept a folder of items to remind himself that he existed. He is one of many transgender youth grappling with their place in a world that is playing catch up to changing gender norms.
A three-month investigation into a high school teacher accused of having an improper relationship with a former student uncovered a police investigation, two uncoordinated school district inquiries and internal disagreements over how to handle the case.
For the second time in less than a year, an avoidable mistake by top school district administrators will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and force more budget cuts, while employees will receive raises and bonuses that the Board of Education voted months ago to eliminate.
For many Palo Alto families who opt to home-school their children, the term is a misnomer for what their children's education looks like.
