Recently fired Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan’s request to be reinstated has been denied by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The court said Dewan, who filed suit against the Board of Education last week, did “not adequately establish ‘some possibility’ she will ultimately prevail on the merits.” Dewan alleged the board had no authority to fire her because she was appointed, and claimed she wasn’t technically employed by the Santa Clara County Office of Education but rather she was a constitutional officer. The court didn’t agree.
“California Courts have frequently held that appointed officials without fixed terms of office can be removed by the authority which appointed them,” the ruling said.
Trustees earlier this month voted 4-2 behind closed doors to terminate Dewan’s contract “without cause upon 30 days written notice.” The board meets later today and plans to appoint an interim superintendent while searching for a more permanent replacement.
“I am pleased the court put this unnecessary distraction to rest as we prepare to turn the page and move forward,” Board President Maimona Afzal Berta said in a statement. “I am committed to a process that allows for input from all stakeholders to identify a new superintendent who can deliver the core services of the organization at a top quality, maintain prudent fiscal management and uphold our values of respecting all communities.”
Supporters of Santa Clara County’s top educator are demanding a grand jury investigation into her firing.
Board of Education Trustee Tara Sreekrishnan and former board President Claudia Rossi gathered with teachers Tuesday outside the Office of Education to criticize the four area trustees who voted in closed session to oust Dewan. Rossi said Tuesday she was concerned about the timing of the vote, as three of the four trustees who voted against Dewan are either terming out or running for reelection — including Joseph Di Salvo, Don Rocha and Grace Mah.
“It looks to us that this retaliatory action was intentionally taken by these four before the election, this act of the board of education has created a crisis that requires immediate action,” Rossi said. “The sudden removal of an effective and beloved county superintendent has destabilized the office and put millions of dollars in funding for our most vulnerable youth at risk.”
Rossi said a 2018 county civil grand jury report stated the board had a high turnover rate for superintendents, with Dewan being the fifth leader to hold the position in the past 17 years. The report said this suggested trustees disagree with the decisions made by superintendents they themselves appointed, such as charter school approvals.
Jeffrey I. Levin was a member of the grand jury at the time. He referred San José Spotlight to the 2018 report which proposed superintendents be elected rather than appointed in order to combat internal strifes.
“What’s been going on these last few weeks is proof and point that we need to elect our superintendent and not allow these million-dollar shenanigans to go on,” he said. “I am ashamed at what our board trustees are doing. We can’t trust a board that operates in this fashion.”
Rossi said the board of education spent upward of $938,000 on legal fees last year, and is continuing to deal with legal matters that include employees suing for being terminated.
Sreekrishnan, who is running for California State Assembly in District 26, said the grand jury needs to aggressively investigate the firing of Dewan to determine if there was any wrongdoing.
“The reason we are gathering today is to demand transparency and accountability from the county board of education,” Sreekrishnan told San José Spotlight. “The closed-door firing of Superintendent Dewan has thrown our schools into chaos, and the lack of public input is unacceptable.”
More than a dozen office of education employees stopped to watch the news conference as community leaders spoke in support of Dewan.
Retired teacher Meri Maben, now a San Jose Library Foundation board member, called the decision to fire Dewan undemocratic.
“If we were in a playground after school and something happened that was unfair, those kids would be yelling, ‘Let’s do a redo.’ Well, something happened here that is unfair, and that’s why we are here, asking for a redo, asking for the civil grand jury to investigate this,” Maben told San José Spotlight.
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.