A former East San Jose school superintendent is speaking out about his abrupt firing, saying he was let go for asking board members to reimburse questionable expenses billed to the district.
The Alum Rock Union School District board of trustees voted July 31 to fire then-Superintendent German Cerda, less than a year after he was hired last September to fill the role following the firing of Superintendent Hilaria Bauer in March 2024. Cerda thought he’d be fired sooner when he confronted board members for missing documentation related to money paid back by the district.
The reimbursements didn’t sit well with Cerda, given the district faced a $20 million budget deficit following the loss of COVID funds and a drop in enrollment from more than 10,000 students in 2015-16 to a projected 7,270 students in 2024-25. Trustees voted last year to close six schools to help address the deficit…