The Alum Rock Union School District board of trustees on Thursday voted to fire recently appointed Superintendent German Cerda.
The board of trustees said in a statement it has “unilaterally” ended the employment relationship with Cerda effective in 10 days. No other explanation was given.
The board and administration are focused on the successful opening of schools for the new school year. In the coming days and weeks trustees will meet to discuss the process for the selection of a new superintendent for the district, Board President Linda Chavez said in a statement to the Alum Rock community.
“We encourage and welcome all community stakeholders to become engaged in this process so that together we can continue to support our students and families and strengthen our community,” Chavez said.
The board unanimously voted to appoint Cerda last September to fill the role of superintendent. Following the abrupt firing of Superintendent Hilaria Bauer in March 2024, Imee Almazan and Emmanuel “Manny” Barbara stepped in as interim superintendents while the district sought a permanent replacement.
Sandra Rivera, president of Alum Rock Educators Association, said the superintendent’s evaluation has been part of all the closed board meetings for some time.
“But his immediate unilateral release was a surprise.” she told San José Spotlight. “After we’ve closed the schools that we have, and we have a community that’s grieving, we need to look towards the future. We need to set strong educational goals for both ourselves and for our students, and move forward making sure that the voices of the educators, the community and everyone is involved in this process.”
Rivera said this is the second year in a row the school district is starting without a superintendent.
“While we’re trying to bring stability, the educators are focused on maintaining an environment that welcomes all students and moves us forward, building the best campuses that we can,” she said. “We would just ask that we be provided with leadership that echoes what the teachers are wanting.”
The East San Jose school district has been struggling financially due to a loss of federal and state funding and student enrollment over the past years. Last year trustees voted unanimously to close six schools for the 2025-26 school year, but plans to reopen one of them the following year, while closing two more in 2026-27. Three schools will be consolidated and three redesigned.
The district’s move to close the campuses is the result of multiple factors, including a $20 million budget deficit and the loss of temporary COVID relief funds, leaving the district in the red. It’s been compounded by a districtwide drop in enrollment from more than 10,000 students in 2015-16 to a projected 7,270 students in 2024-25.
“Except for Corina Herrera-Loera, that board is frankly incompetent,” Rolando Bonilla, former chair of the San Jose Planning Commission and past consultant for the school district, told San José Spotlight. “Their inability to focus on things other than personal politics is tremendously hurtful to the children of Alum Rock Union School District. This is now the second highly qualified superintendent to be terminated simply because that board majority is incapable of putting kids over personal politics.”
Editor’s note: Rolando Bonilla is the partner of Perla Rodriguez, who sits on San José Spotlight’s board of directors.
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
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