After surviving multiple attempts to get rid of her, Santa Clara County Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan was fired during a late-night meeting this week.
The county’s Board of Education Trustees voted 4-2 behind closed doors Wednesday to oust Dewan. The action terminates Dewan’s contract “without cause upon 30 days written notice.”
Board President Maimona Afzal Berta said associate superintendent Jessica Bondorius will take over Dewan’s duties until a replacement is found. Dewan was formally placed on administrative leave and will receive a severance payment.
Berta along with trustees Don Rocha, Joseph Di Salvo and Grace Mah voted in favor of firing Dewan. Trustees Tara Sreekrishnan and Victoria Chon voted against the decision, and Raeena Lari abstained.
First appointed to the board in 2018, Dewan faced a potential ousting during a February closed session meeting.
“It is a complete honor and privilege to serve Santa Clara County, its schools, community, staff and students,” Dewan said in a statement. “I have dedicated my life to the service of our community and hold the work of the County Office of Education in high esteem. I am incredibly proud of all we do together to advance equity, inclusion, diversity and partnership.”
Dewan, who is an education columnist at San José Spotlight, did not respond to requests for further comment. Her severance amount is not yet known, but public records show she earned more than $300,000 a year.
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Despite the decision, Berta praised Dewan’s efforts to focus on student learning during her tenure.
“Superintendent Dewan has placed a high value on cultivating systems for communication and collaboration, championing a culture that was focused on teaching and learning, as well as promoting social-emotional well-being, and health and wellness both in and out the classroom,” Berta said in a statement Thursday. “In the coming weeks, the board will make additional information available regarding the timeline and opportunities for engagement in the interest of transparency and informing the public.”
Sreekrishnan said she called for a public hearing next week to address concerns from parents and teachers. She said Dewan’s firing was inappropriate and led to staff walking out in protest Wednesday.
“It is deeply harmful to our children’s education that this decision was made behind closed doors. The public deserves to be part of these discussions, and it’s wrong to exclude them from such an important process,” Sreekrishnan told San José Spotlight. “The termination of a superintendent, without cause, especially when it affects our most vulnerable students, is not only poor judgment but an outright political stunt.”
Ken Yeager, a retired county supervisor, said the public deserves an explanation for Dewan’s firing.
“She was one of the most visible and well-regarded school superintendents in the county,” Yeager told San José Spotlight. “At a minimum, the board should have waited until after the November election when new trustees would be seated.”
Dewan appeared to have support from some parents, in recent years she faced criticism over workplace safety especially for special education teachers.
Sarah Gianocaro, president of SEIU’s Santa Clara County Office of Education chapter, cited numerous preventable injuries occurring to both special education students and workers . She and other union leaders have complained that the office of education is top heavy – with administrators outweighing educators and other workers.
“I think we will know more what this means, as the days and months come, as to how the office of education is willing to work with us,” she told San José Spotlight. “Hopefully they will see we need to address the issues we’ve been talking about for the past several years because it’s been impacting workforce in terms of morale and retention and it impacts the students we serve directly and the communities our workers are supporting.”
But SEIU Local 521 President Mullissa Willette, who oversees the office of education chapter, said the union would never advocate for the discipline or dismissal of another office of education employee.
She said she was shocked to hear about Dewan’s firing.
“We had members in attendance (Wednesday), I was also in attendance and I can tell you our stance pretty much remains the same,” Willette told San José Spotlight. “We’re committed to working with the trustees, with administrators to resolve challenges and ensure we get a good contract for our workers.”
Contact Vicente Vera at vicente@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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