News Update

Castro sworn in as new Alameda County superintendent

Alameda County’s new superintendent, Alysse Castro, took office on Tuesday, pledging to prioritize student mental health, teacher recruitment and training and improved outcomes for the county’s most vulnerable students.

Castro, former director of court, county and continuation schools for San Francisco Unified, defeated L.K. Monroe in June, in part due to strong support from teachers unions. Monroe had held the post since 2015.

“The county superintendent holds a powerful lever to tilt public schools towards quality, equality and justice — yet few people have even heard of this tool,” Castro said at the swearing-in ceremony, which took place at the county’s juvenile justice center. “Our students — especially those furthest from opportunity — need us to use every tool to break the school-to-prison pipeline, embed systems of care in schools and guarantee an excellent teacher and an excellent school for every student in every community.”

Castro holds a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in educational leadership from UC Berkeley’s Principal Leadership Institute. She was recently named an “Alameda Local Hero” for her work as president of Alameda Family Services, a community agency.