Three Santa Clara County Office of Education board spots are on the ballot this November, concluding a term plagued by board turmoil, lengthy investigations into a misuse of public funds, a legal battle against the former county superintendent and state concerns that the “dysfunctional” relationship between board members and office leadership could lead to financial consequences for the county.
The elected board appoints the county superintendent, reviews and approves the county’s education office budget and oversees county-run educational programs and charter schools.
Only one of the three open trustee spots is contested. For the seat representing the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy and a southern slice of the East Side Union High School District, incumbent trustee Raeena Lari is facing Karla Dominguez-Vega, a student support specialist in Morgan Hill Unified School District.
Trustee Maimona Afzal Berta does not have an opponent in the race to represent most of San Jose Unified, part of the Oak Grove and a portion of the East Side Union school districts, the board’s area 4. Former Saratoga mayor and current Saratoga Councilmember Yan Zhao is running unopposed to replace trustee Tara Sreekrishnan in area 2, which includes Los Gatos, Cupertino and Saratoga.
The election comes amid years of leadership turmoil within the county office of education. The removal of former superintendent of schools, Mary Ann Dewan, in Oct. 2024 sparked community outrage and a lawsuit by Dewan, which she later dropped.
Last year, several hundred Santa Clara County Office of Education employees, including staff in special education and early education programs, were laid off as state and federal grants expired. The office also faces declining student enrollment and rising operational costs.
And a 2018 Civil Grand Jury report examined the “unusually high turnover rate” at the education office and estimated the cost to taxpayers at more than $1 million for the previous five superintendents over the past 11 years.
Trustee Lari said she’s optimistic trustees are “trying to work on getting things back to where they should be.”
“Every single one of us is working very hard to have a united stand about issues,” Lari said. “I know it’s been very traumatic for everyone.”
Elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Education in 2022, Lari previously served as Santa Clara County Health Advisory Commissioner and worked as a research economist.
She’s endorsed by several teachers’ unions, including the statewide California Teachers Association, state senator Dave Cortese and state assemblymembers Ash Kalra and Alex Lee. She’s also endorsed by all but one of her fellow board trustees. Trustee Don Rocha, who has endorsed her opponent Dominguez-Vega.
Lari said she’s running for re-election to continue making progress on improving students’ physical and mental health, which she believes is crucial to resolve learning issues and increase attendance. Lari said the turnover at the county education office hindered some of the progress she had hoped to make during her term.
She said improving teacher well-being is also directly connected to student well-being and success. She said competitive pay and supportive working conditions are necessary to attract and retain educators, and she strongly advocates for affordable teacher housing.
Lari said she supports guardrails around students’ use of artificial intelligence and devices. And she strongly condemned ICE facilities, arguing they negatively impact the safety and well-being of students, families and the community and increase student absences.
Lari said if re-elected, she will prioritize strong fiscal oversight and transparency to ensure that public funds are not misused again, as revealed in a federal audit released in Feb. 2025.
The audit found that the county office of education misused more than $135,370 in Head Start funds — a federal program that helps low-income children under the age of five access critical resources — under former superintendent Dewan’s leadership.
An internal review also found that public dollars were used for personal legal expenses, grant funding was redirected for unrelated purposes and several public contracts were awarded in a manner suggesting “personal favoritism.”
Lari said strong fiscal oversight and transparency means “setting clear expectations with our superintendent, regularly reviewing financial reports and independent audits, ensuring strong safeguards around contracts with public funds and asking questions when something does not look right.”
Lari said the board has prioritized investigating and identifying issues, as well as acting promptly.
But her opponent, Dominguez-Vega, said fiscal accountability and transparency around the board’s spending and decision-making are some of the biggest challenges the board of education still struggles with.
She pointed to the 2018 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report and said eight years later, serious questions about the board’s governance and fiscal accountability remain. She expressed concerns over administrative salary increases amid cuts to special education, foster youth programs and migrant student services.
Dominguez-Vega said if elected, she would protect essential student programs and ensure taxpayer dollars are used to strengthen education and improve services for families.
“I’m running because I believe that every child deserves to feel seen, supported and valued,” she said. “And every family deserves to know that someone is listening to them while advocating for them.”
She said that’s something she does every day as a student support specialist in the Morgan Hill Unified School District. She said many of the families she helps are experiencing homelessness or navigating the foster-care system.
A daughter of immigrants, she said her priorities are safe schools where children are free from fear of immigration enforcement and have access to educational support and basic necessities, like healthcare, food and housing.
She also advocates for less screen time in the classroom, guardrails around artificial intelligence, mental health services, special education programs and support for teachers.
She said academic achievement gaps are due to teacher turnover and a lack of experienced teachers, which she said comes down to needing more competitive salaries.
Dominguez-Vega is endorsed by former Santa Clara County Board of Education trustees Claudia Rossi and Kathleen King, as well as several former and current Morgan Hill city council members and school board members.
Running unopposed for trustee Sreekrishnan’s Area 2 seat, current Saratoga Councilmember Zhao said she’s running because she believes in the power of public education.
She said she supports policies to help recruit, retain and support teachers and staff, believes academic achievement is tied to student mental health, and wants to see increased transparency on the board.
Zhao is endorsed by all trustees on the Santa Clara County Board of Education, including incumbent Sreekrishnan. Jeff Rosen, the Santa Clara County District Attorney, and state assemblymember Patrick Ahrens also endorse Zhao, along with the California State Treasurer.