A brand new 42-page report concludes that the troubled Santa Clara County Board of Education didn’t follow its own management policies and warns that the “poor” and “dysfunctional” relationship between the board and the administration Offices could have financial consequences for the Department of Education district and its 234,000 students.
A state agency that helps California schools address financial and operational problems began a review of the Santa Clara County office's governance and leadership in July and presented its findings to interim superintendent Charles Hinman last month.
While the review was initiated to look at the county Board of Education's leadership structure, the agency's investigators quickly reached out to the board after hearing quite a few complaints from employees, said Mike Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Support Team.
“We have heard repeatedly from people about the board,” Fine said. “Some described it as unprofessional, others as working outside their authority. People described the impact on their work in different ways.”
There is a few disagreement about how the review got here about. Some board members suspect that former Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan initiated the report herself, and others say it was prompted by a request from the board.
“The report was made more than two weeks after Dr.
But board member Tara Sreekrishnan said the report was prepared transparently and showed the consequences of “hasty decisions” by the board majority that ignored good governance, rejected community input and threatened financial stability.
“This dysfunction has diverted the resources and focus of our students,” Sreekrishnan said. “It is high time we put our egos aside and prioritize responsible corporate governance and build a productive partnership with our employees and the community.”
The report comes amid uproar following the unexpected ouster early last month of Dewan, who then sued the board for firing her without cause. Although the board has not provided an evidence for her termination, reports suggest that her dismissal was as a result of tensions with board members.
And this month, Hinman called for investigations into the county school board's funds and operations over possible misuse of public funds, including possible unauthorized spending related to non-public legal fees and investigations by the county board.
“The elected trustees of the SCCOE Board of Education were not aware of any FCMAT study and were never consulted for the original report,” Hinman said in an announcement. “Further contextual information and relevant and material information regarding SCCOE’s organizational processes and tax practices should be investigated by FCMAT.”
The county's Office of Education, led by the superintendent, provides training, business, technology and payroll services to the county's 33 school districts and 60 charter schools. The superintendent is appointed by the county's elected, seven-member board of education. Only 4 other counties within the state make such appointments.
Dewan's ouster as county executive was the newest in a series of controversial resignations and firings throughout the county over the past decade. A 2018 civil grand jury report examined the “unusually high turnover rate.” with the Board of Education and estimated the fee to taxpayers at greater than $1 million for the previous five superintendents over the past 11 years.
Fine said the established structure throughout the Santa Clara County Board of Education and confusion amongst board members over their and the superintendent's roles have led to conflict. Most California school districts have school boards in charge, but in Santa Clara County the college board's role is restricted and the superintendent has essentially the most authority.
The status report highlighted two key points of contention: the board's micromanagement and the board's failure to stick to its own policies.
According to the report, county employees reported working excessive hours to answer the board's quite a few requests, diverting resources away from the county's students and college districts.
“Board members are taking actions that have the potential to create financial risks for the District Office of Education,” the report said. “The poor relationship between the board and district office administration reduces the productivity of both entities, which in turn deprives Santa Clara County students of valuable resources.”
Fine said it’s critical that faculty districts and county offices of education operate efficiently because there aren’t many resources available to their students.
“When you create inefficiencies, you waste resources,” Fine said. “And county offices of education and school districts have no room to waste resources.”
The cost of the tensions between the board and superintendent is most evident within the county's legal fees. The Board of Education said the board has collected $243,000 in legal fees for the 2023-2024 12 months — nearly $70,000 greater than it was allocated. And last month, the board approved a contract for a separate legal counsel to the district office — a move highly unusual for boards of education, Fine said.
Fine said having two separate counsels for a board of education and an education office will not be only unusual and wasteful, but in addition a warning sign that “people don't see eye to eye.”
“It sends a message that things are not right,” he said. “And it comes with a cost that I would question the value of, because it takes money from an educational program, I can assure you.”
The report also highlighted questionable and unprofessional conduct by board members, including board member Grace Mah, who was subject to at the very least two additional investigations.
The report said Mah attempted to claim authority over a hiring decision over which the board had no authority, shared personnel details publicly and acted without authority to carry a parent-led committee meeting despite a cease-and-desist letter from Dewan. Mah confirmed at the general public board meeting on June 5 that she held the meeting despite Dewan's text.
Mah is is currently behind Jessicaspeiser within the race for her seat on the county Board of Education. Sreekrishnan, who also sought election to the state Assembly in the autumn, lost her race.
Mah didn’t reply to this news organization's request for comment.
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