As Contra Costa County school districts grapple with budget cuts, staffing shortages and declining student performance, voters picked Dana Eaton, the superintendent of Brentwood Union School District, as their new schools superintendent in the June 2 primary election.
County Office of Education Superintendent Lynn Mackey is retiring after eight years in office. It appears that Eaton is the unofficial winner over Jag Lathan, with all precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning.
The superintendent is essentially the CEO for the Contra Costa Office of Education, which oversees 18 districts serving 160,000 students and manages county education programs, including services for at-risk and youths in the justice system.
Eaton said Tuesday night that he’s pleased with the early results but isn’t declaring a win yet.
“We really focused on trying to run an honest and fair campaign, and I really tried to be true to myself and what I believed in, and I’m glad that’s resonated with people so far,” Eaton told Richmondside at 9:25 p.m. “But there’s still a long way to go, and a lot of votes to count, so I want to make sure that that all takes place.”
This is Eaton’s first election. He said he did not host an election party because he was too nervous, but with the first rounds of results in, overall he is feeling “grateful.”
“We had over 200 people that donated to the campaign, volunteered time and just participated along the way. I’m just overwhelmed with that support,” Eaton said. “We will just kind of have to wait (to see how this election will) transpire … but it seems like it’s good to be hopeful at this point.”
Lathan also didn’t host an election party. She did not respond to requests for comment from Richmondside, noting she would prefer to comment the day after.
Lathan brings more than 25 years of experience. The Oakland native started her career as a special education teacher in Southern California, working her way up from principal to chief academic officer at the Alameda County Office of Education. She also started an education consultancy and leadership development firm, New Generation Equity, that helps train educators and leaders across the country with a goal of making schools more fair, effective, and supportive. Before being elected to the Antioch Unified School Board in 2022, Lathan was an instructor at UC Davis and a fellow at School Board Partners.
June 2 primary election
Full election results are here.
For more info.: Visit Richmondside’s voter guide or the Contra Costa County elections page.
She says she has experience making structural changes and was the founding executive director of San Diego County Office of Education’s Equity Department in 2018. If elected, she would be the first Black county superintendent in Contra Costa County. She is endorsed by the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, Alysee Castro, a number of school board trustees and superintendents, including three of her colleagues in Antioch, the California Democratic Party and the state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond.
Eaton has 30 years of experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent in East Bay school districts. He has served 17 years as the Brentwood Unified superintendent and before that was the superintendent of Jefferson School District in Tracy, which is in San Joaquin County. He also sits on the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), a governing board that is responsible for school finance and oversight, and is the president of the state’s Superintendency Council.
He sits on a number of boards and committees, such as the Superintendent Advisory Panel for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, which is the state’s support provider for districts in need of academic assistance. He has Mackey’s endorsement as well endorsements from 28 other school district superintendents, dozens of teachers and more community members, as well as the East Bay Times.
Eaton leads in campaign fundraising, according to finance filings
Richmondside reviewed campaign finance data reported by the candidates so far. As of May 16, Eaton had raised the most, about $65,000, including $10,000 he loaned himself, according to his forms. His largest donor was Jennifer Gibb, vice president of Business Development at Van Pelt Construction Services, which contracts with districts and school sites for facility upgrades and planning. She has donated $5,000 to his campaign, and the company also donated $2,500. Mackey also contributed $2,600 to his campaign.
Lathan has raised more than $32,000 and loaned her campaign $9,500. Unlike Eaton, she received several smaller donations between $100 and $200. The largest campaign contribution she received was from Alysee Castro, the superintendent of schools for Alameda County, who donated $1,000.
Unlike past races for the county school board, charter schools did not appear to offer financial support. Neither candidate reported receiving charter school contributions.
