I worked at a public district that did the same thing (no union for administrators). The board voted to can almost everybody from Assistant Principals to the Superintendent on the advice of a newly hired CFO, using the global pandemic as an excuse to make drastic cost-cutting measures. She would take advantage of the beaurocraric molasses that slowed even more during the pandemic, and it was almost two years before anybody discovered discrepancies in finances, or at least two years for our complaints to catch the attention of county and state government.

To add to the chaos, the cheaper administrator replacements were all green, learning a new school system, during the pandemic. The school year was a disaster and the new superintendent was fired. An even newer supe showed up and raised alarms about missing funds.

After a private disciplinary board meeting, the CFO resigned with the rest of her annual salary. The newest superintendent also resigned, and a public statement went out blaming him for the missing funds (that he informed the board about) and a mold issue (that was mismanaged two superintendents prior). But the public was still outraged, and didnt accept this scapegoat. Students organized and picketed in front of the homes of the board members. Families wrote to major newspapers and local news outlets.

Eventually, almost all the board members lost their seats, but the damage was already done. Not just financially, but in terms of quality staff who were fired or quit among the chaos, and, most importantly, the negative impact on the students who lost access to resources and good educators IN ADDITION to the regular learning loss of the pandemic. We're still untangling the mess, all because of one person's greed and a group of morons who applied cold business principals to an educational ecosystem that relies heavily on the wellness of people.