Santa Clara County’s top educator says a series of investigations into his ousted predecessor have revealed even more issues — beyond major allegations of misspending public funds and malfeasance — and now the findings are being turned over to authorities.
Former superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Dewan faces “deeply concerning” accusations of wrongdoing, according to a Dec. 10 letter from Charles Hinman, the interim Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools. Although he doesn’t go into details about these new allegations, he has turned the information over to the authorities.
Dewan office allegedly approved inappropriate expenditures of public funds, approved suspicious and unnecessary contracts, conducted unauthorized surveillance and used public dollars for personal legal fees. She’s also accused of conducting “clandestine” investigations into some employees and Board of Education members, which were alleged to be retaliatory.
The board voted in closed session in October to fire Dewan.
Dewan didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hinman said he shared his latest findings with Board of Education members this week, just before the swearing in of the district’s newly-elected trustees. According to his letter, the investigations’ findings are being turned over to authorities, including the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Office, state attorney general, among others. Hinman said the board will cooperate to hold Dewan accountable for any “malfeasance and misfeasance.”
“Under the leadership of a new superintendent who will no doubt choose to work cooperatively with the board, the County Office of Education is now providing the steady hand needed to move forward, with the accountability and transparency the community demands,” Hinman wrote.
The Santa Clara County Office of Education is responsible for overseeing the special education services, migrant education and Head Start and state preschool programs, as well as services for delinquent students at risk of expulsion. The office provides academic and fiscal oversight for the county’s 31 school districts and monitoring for the county’s 21 authorized charter schools.
Dewan’s firing without cause sent shockwaves through the county’s political circles and met fierce pushback from state lawmakers – even prompting calls for a civil grand jury investigation. The school board majority that supported Dewan’s ouster has made few public remarks about their decision. But hints about their motivations came after it made an “extraordinary” request for third-party audits into misuse of school district funds during Dewan’s tenure.
It all comes after an apparent power struggle between Dewan and a majority of the office of education’s elected trustees. Dewan has argued the board majority had no authority to fire her and she was not technically employed by them. A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge denied her lawsuit.
Before her firing, Dewan requested an investigation — outside of her office’s complaint policies and procedures — into board members for allegedly violating policies and public meeting laws, retaliating against employees and harassing her.
Hinman, who has a 35-year career in public education and is from Southern California, was hired by the board in October to temporarily replace Dewan. Hinman has said he does not plan to relocate from Orange County in his interim role. He’s had multiple stints as a superintendent in school districts across California. The board is still searching for Dewan’s permanent replacement.
The firing has prompted a looming discussion among Santa Clara County supervisors as to whether to change the Office of Education’s governance structure — changing the trustee positions from elected ones to supervisor-appointed ones, and making the superintendent role an elected position.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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