Criticism of Laguna Beach school board members grows, reaches city streets

A three-member majority on the Laguna Beach Unified school board is facing criticism from staff and the community for being overbearing and destabilizing the district.

Complaints have come from union representatives and parents, students and retired teachers at board meetings over the last several months, and most recently boiled over onto the town’s streets with a large rally at Main Beach.

Staff and families argue they’ve had no voice with the board since Sheri Morgan, now the board president, and Howard Hills were elected in 2024 and formed an alliance with Dee Perry to dominate the conversation and agenda in the district, alleging there have been repercussions for those who speak out and teachers feel intimidated and distracted from their classrooms.

“The minute they came on the board, they wanted to usurp and not listen to anyone and do what they wanted to do,” said Thasa Zuziak, president of California Schools Employee Association Chapter 131 representing the district’s 150 classified employees that hold jobs such as janitors, nutritional and instructional assistants and librarians.

The board majority has overshadowed the district’s staff, including Superintendent Jason Glass, even directing how school-specific concerns are addressed, and has caused there to be a lack of transparency by making decisions in a vacuum, said Zuziak and Scott Wittkop, a graphic arts teacher at Laguna Beach High and the representative for the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Association, which includes 170 certificated teachers.

Board officials said in a statement they applaud the “community’s demonstrated commitment to students and the school,” but “at the same time, we must directly address historical challenges,” citing concerns such as overspending, fidelity to fiscal responsibility, transparency and proactive leadership, improved communications with stakeholders, and more opportunities for student success.

“LBUSD and its taxpayers provide some of the highest teacher salaries and best working conditions in the state, and we are proud of the unmatched learning opportunities, small class sizes, and safe schools offered to our students,” the statement said.

In a response to a request for comment from Glass, district spokesperson Anakaren Ureno said, “As President Morgan has issued a public statement, Dr. Glass is not able to provide additional comment at this time. The board president is the designated spokesperson to the media on behalf of the Board of Education.”

Zuziak argued there “have been so many decisions made that you can tell three of them have already talked.”

“They’ve come in and made their decision without public input or disregarded it, such as changing the agenda bylaw. There were 45 pages of public comment against it,” Zuziak said. “They want complete control, and that was what they spent the last year doing: going over the bylaws. They haven’t done one thing for students this whole year.”

To make their voices heard, about 400 people participated in the rally last week, carrying signs that read “Restore trust in our schools,” “Howard, Sheri, Dee, our district is not your kingdom,” and “Students first, every day” as they marched from the district office to Main Beach and back ahead of a school board meeting.

“We want the community to become aware of what is happening at the board level,” said Zuziak, “because we truly believe this community did not vote for this kind of chaos and board members attacking staff and students and our leaders.”

In on-site listening sessions with Morgan, according to summaries provided in response to a public records request made by Zuziak and shared with The Orange County Register, school staff reported that tension and conflict at the governance level do not stay confined to board meetings; instead, it “ripples into morale, relationships, and the emotional environment in which staff work, and students learn.”

“Many described a shift in district culture — from what they characterized as a collegial, family oriented environment toward one marked by uncertainty and tension,” the summary said.

Families Unified for Education in Laguna, or F.U.E.L., was formed in February 2025 following the election to better support candidates and raise awareness in Laguna Beach about their concerns, said its president, Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal, also a parent of two students in the district.

Sheik-Sadhal said she is hopeful the recent public display at the rally will make people in the community who may not have a direct connection to the district care about the concerns being raised.

“I do think people (get on) school boards to assert control and authority,” she said. “People want to sit there and shape an entire generation as to what they learn and how they learn.”

Sheik-Sadhal said her group will focus on the upcoming November election. The group has been canvassing neighborhoods and manned information booths at the local farmers’ market.

“We want an informed voter population,” she said. “We want an engaged, educated voting community.”

One Laguna Beach High senior, Piper Halpern, told the school board at the meeting following the rally that, along with students not feeling heard, she has “watched teachers I respect and care about being dismissed and disrespected. These people who support us every day and shape our education and futures deserve so much better.”

Students argue that their desires were ignored when the board moved the upcoming Laguna Beach High graduation ceremony back to the smaller Irvine Bowl after several years of being held in the campus stadium.

And one of the two student representatives on the school board scolded the trustees at last week’s meeting for how the decision was handled, but also for implying the two teens were being manipulated by F.U.E.L.

“My job is to represent the views of the students,” said Logan Marshall, who is a representative with Ivy Dabbs. “If they don’t go along with your narrative, it doesn’t mean Ivy or I are being told what to say; it means the students don’t like what the board is doing.”

“There was a survey, and it was disregarded by the board. I’d like to remind you, President Morgan, that you work for the students,” Marshall added. “Despite the blatant disregard the staff has faced, the members of the community have faced, and the disrespect I am facing, the students’ voices will only get louder. There is nothing you will be able to do to intimidate me and stop the voices of my peers.”

Perry, who is wrapping up her 12th year on the board and said she is unlikely to run again, expressed concern over the discord, which she said stems from the two sides going at each other. She tries to listen with an open mind and is interested in promoting unity in the district, she said. It doesn’t help, she said, when some community members publicly chastise members of the board during meetings and tell them they are unliked and not to be trusted.

There are “untruths” that are being promoted by the critics, she added, and the board tries to be transparent and “is more transparent than the past board.” Some issues have to be discussed in closed sessions, she added.

She is on the board to help steward the district, she said, raising concerns about maintaining the district’s fiscal strength and creating policy to help students succeed.

“I don’t know how to get the teachers and staff comfortable,” said Perry, a former 20-year teacher in the district. “But we do need to be fiscally responsible.”