Al Mijares, a former elected Orange County Superintendent of Schools who led the county’s Department of Education during the COVID-19 pandemic, died last Thursday at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer.
Mijares served as the County’s superintendent for over a decade and in the final years of his tenure clashed repeatedly with the OC Board of Education over policy – with the two parties facing off in lawsuits to separate their legal teams and over control of the department’s budget.
Lisa Sparks, a trustee on the OC Board of Education, said in a Monday text message to the that Mijares was deeply committed to the education of Orange County students…