Santa Clara County’s top education office is planning for a wave of firings amid questions over top-heavy management and executive assistants with six-figure salaries.
Workers will be notified about their dismissal by March 15, according to a Thursday statement by the Santa Clara County Office of Education. It’s unclear how many jobs could be cut. The agency says it’s facing a “constricted financial future” in light of “dramatic change in priorities and funding” at the federal level, expiring grant funding and shifts in district-supported services similar to other educational agencies across the state and country.
“SCCOE leadership is assessing how to best strengthen its impact for children and families and ensure its staffing model is sustainable while maintaining efficiency and fiscal responsibility,” the statement reads. “SCCOE is working to funnel resources strategically to support classrooms, provide professional development, and continue services that directly benefit the students and educators it serves.”
This comes as the office looks for evidence of misspending and malfeasance under former Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan. The Board of Education — elected to oversee the agency and its spending of taxpayer dollars — voted to fire Dewan in October, sparking backlash from state lawmakers and educators across Silicon Valley.
Interim Superintendent Charles Hinman wasn’t immediately available for comment.
An analysis by San José Spotlight showed Dewan’s office was studded with six-figure salaried assistants, strategy managers and a “senior administrator for superintendent projects” reporting to the former superintendent. Her three executive assistants each made an annual base salary ranging from $150,000 to $192,000.
Hinman previously told San José Spotlight. the agency was in the process of “rightsizing” the spending under Dewan’s tenure. Dewan’s few supporters on the board, including Trustee Tara Sreekrishnan, said Dewan was overburdened and spread thin — and that her assistants filled critical leadership gaps across the education office.
“It is deeply concerning to see an interim superintendent with no experience in county office of education funding structures rushing into mass layoffs that will hurt students, educators and districts, and further destabilize our office,” Sreekrishnan told San José Spotlight.
After facing backlash for firing Dewan, the board majority and Hinman announced investigations into inappropriate expenditure of public funds under her tenure. That includes allegations of approving suspect contracts and conducting unauthorized surveillance of employees and board members. In December, officials sent their investigative findings to authorities, including the district attorney and law enforcement.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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