Santa Clara County’s top educator loses a legal bid to get his job back

Recently fired principal Mary Ann Dewan’s request for reinstatement has been denied by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

The court said Dewan, who filed suit against the education board last week, had “failed to adequately demonstrate the possibility that she will ultimately prevail on the merits.” Dewan claimed the board had no authority to fire her because she was appointed, claiming she was not technically employed by the Santa Clara County Office of Education but rather a constitutional officer. The court disagreed.

“California courts have frequently held that appointed officials without tenure can be removed from office by the agency that appointed them,” the ruling said.

Trustees voted 4-2 behind closed doors earlier this month to terminate Dewan’s contract “without cause upon 30 days’ written notice.” The board will meet later today and plan to name an interim superintendent while searching for a more permanent replacement.

“I am pleased that the court has ended this unnecessary distraction as we prepare to turn the page and move forward,” board chairwoman Maimona Afzal Berta said in a statement. “I am committed to a process that allows input from all stakeholders to find a new superintendent who can deliver the organization’s core services to the highest quality, maintain prudent financial management and uphold our values ​​of respect for all communities.”

Supporters of Santa Clara County’s top educator are calling for a grand jury investigation into her firing.

Board of Education Trustee Tara Sreekrishnan and former board chairwoman Claudia Rossi gathered with teachers outside the Board of Education on Tuesday to criticize the four district administrators who voted in closed session to remove Dewan. Rossi said Tuesday she was concerned about the timing of the vote because three of the four trustees who voted against Dewan are either resigning or running for re-election – including Joseph Di Salvo, Don Rocha and Grace Mah.

“We feel that this retaliatory action was deliberately taken by these four before the election. This action by the Board of Education has created a crisis that requires immediate action,” Rossi said. “The sudden removal of an effective and popular county leader has destabilized the office and jeopardized millions of dollars in funding for our most vulnerable youth.”

Rossi said a 2018 county civil grand jury report found the board had a high superintendent turnover rate, with Dewan being the fifth chair to hold the position in the last 17 years. According to the report, this suggests trustees disagree with decisions made by their self-appointed superintendents, such as approving charter schools.

Jeffrey I. Levin was a member of the grand jury at the time. He referred San Jose Spotlight to the 2018 report that suggested electing rather than appointing superintendents to combat internal conflict.

“What has happened in the last few weeks is proof that we must elect our superintendent and not allow these multi-million dollar shenanigans to continue,” he said. “I am ashamed of what our board members are doing. We cannot trust a board that operates in this manner.”

Rossi said the education board spent more than $938,000 on legal fees last year and continues to deal with legal matters that include employees suing to be terminated.

Sreekrishnan, who is running for the California State Assembly in District 26, said the grand jury must intensively investigate Dewan’s firing to determine whether 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 Jose Spotlight. “The secret firing of Superintendent Dewan has plunged our schools into chaos, and the lack of public input is unacceptable.”
More than a dozen Department of Education employees stood by to watch the news conference as community leaders spoke in support of Dewan.

Retired teacher Meri Maben, now a board member of the San Jose Library Foundation, called the decision to fire Dewan undemocratic.

“If we were on a playground after school and something unfair happened, these kids would be screaming, ‘Let’s do that again.’ Well, something unfair happened here and that’s why we’re here demanding a rehearing and calling on the civilian grand jury to investigate this,” Maben told San Jose Spotlight.

Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.