The Citizen

LGBTQ+ students are feeling “fear and hesitation” under Trump. What’s Peralta doing about it?

Each college acknowledged a desire to protect queer students, but institutional approaches have varied.

Romi Bales, Staff Writer • March 14, 2025

On Jan. 30, 2025, the Trump Administration issued two executive orders restricting trans and non-binary people from accessing gender affirming care and spaces. This has left the trans and non-binary community feeling vulnerable, raising questions within the LGBTQ+ community at Peralta about the impact of these executive actions and what colleges are doing to protect their students.

Merritt College updates its online resources for undocumented students after The Citizen finds outdated information from 2022

Up until Feb. 10, undocumented students seeking resources via Merritt’s website were not given the proper information for the state-mandated “Dreamer Liaison” at Merritt College.

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna • February 20, 2025

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are now permitted on college campuses, including Peralta community college campuses, following the Trump Administration’s reversal of a federal policy...

Investigation: A look at the for-profit Chinese business that sold Peralta classes overseas

American Straight A Academy advertised an asynchronous online pathway to California university admissions

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Managing Editor • October 30, 2024

A private company sold access to California public education for an undisclosed price.

Investigation: Over half of PCCD conflict of interest disclosures nowhere to be found

Lack of state-mandated forms 'raises some ethical questions about transparency,' expert says

Li Khan, Editor in Chief • September 17, 2024

We asked PCCD for five years of conflict of interest disclosures, but only got half. Here's why an ethics expert is concerned.

The Citizen Investigates: International Travel

PCCD spends $87k on overseas trips yet F-1 student population declines

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Managing Editor • July 25, 2024

Peralta has yet to establish a process to evaluate the costs and benefits of funding international travel. We combed through travel receipts, international student data, and district policy to find out.

Laney’s Tower of Terror

Tower elevators offline after alleged malfunctions with passengers inside

Leo Premnath-Ray, Investigations Reporter • December 28, 2023

Three separate reports were made to The Citizen in November about a Laney Tower elevator malfunctioning with passengers inside. The college announced Dec. 4 that the Tower elevators would "remain offline until further notice."

The Citizen Investigates: PCCD Vendor High Performance Learning Environments

The construction consulting firm has ties to two past controversies at school districts in Southern California surrounding allegations of bribery and fraud.

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna and Li Khan • December 12, 2023

The board will vote tonight on two high-value contracts to a construction consulting firm that has ties to two past school district scandals that involved allegations of questionable bidding practices, bribery of public officials, and fraud.

An overview of the four finalists in the PCCD chancellor search

The Citizen Staff • October 26, 2023

Update as of 10/27/2023: The PCCD Board of Trustees will deliberate on the candidates in a closed session meeting on Monday, according to a PCCD email announcement sent out at 4:43 PM. The Peralta...

Emergency in the Laney parking lot? Don’t try the blue phones

Leo Premnath-Ray, Investigations Reporter • October 23, 2023

A broken conduit has left all four emergency blue phones in Laney College’s parking lot out of order for nearly three years. On Sep. 25, Peralta’s current Associate Director of Public Safety...

The Citizen Investigates: Outside Speaker Fees

Payments range from $150 to $60,000 in the absence of a district-wide policy

David Rowe and Pamela Rudd • June 22, 2023

Over the past three years, the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District have invited a number of outside speakers to conduct workshops for students, faculty, and staff without formal district-wide policies set in place to determine how much they should be paid. Records obtained by The Citizen show that fees paid to these speakers range widely, from as little as $150 to as much as $60,000.