Letters to the Editor
California School Boards Association is clear in stating that boards govern, while superintendents manage
At recent Laguna Beach Unified School Board meetings, one trustee has repeatedly asserted that the superintendent is “the secretary of the board” and that the superintendent’s authority exists only at the board’s discretion. This claim has been stated confidently, repeatedly and incorrectly.
It needs to stop.
Community members have understandably focused on the newly adopted agenda-setting bylaw. While the policy is now in place, the concerns it raised are less about the mechanics of agendas and more about how governance roles are understood and exercised in practice under California law.
Yes, Laguna Beach Unified Board Bylaw 9122 assigns the superintendent to serve as the board’s secretary for administrative purposes, including preparing agendas, maintaining records and handling official correspondence. The bylaw’s language is clear, and it does exactly what it says it does.
What it does not do is define authority.
Under California law, local board bylaws do not create, grant, or limit a superintendent’s legal authority. California Education Code does. When a local bylaw contradicts or diminishes authority established by state law, the bylaw does not prevail. State law does.
Education Code Section 35035 is explicit. The superintendent is the chief executive officer of the governing board, and that authority cannot be altered by local policy. It exists because the legislature established it, not because of board permission, preference, or interpretation. The superintendent is legally responsible for administering board policy, managing district operations and providing professional educational leadership.
Assigning clerical duties does not transform an executive into a subordinate. An executive does not lose authority because they also perform administrative tasks. LBUSD Board Bylaw 9122 describes functions, not power, and treating it otherwise is not a difference of opinion. It is a misreading of the law.
The California School Boards Association is clear and consistent in stating that boards govern by setting vision, adopting policy and providing oversight, while superintendents manage by leading staff and running district operations. CSBA also makes clear that individual board members have no authority outside the board acting as a whole, and no role in directing staff or redefining executive authority.
Yet one trustee continues to cite bylaws and CSBA language as if repetition can substitute for accuracy. It cannot. Repeating an incorrect interpretation does not make it true, but it can create confusion, undermine professional leadership and destabilize the district.
Misstating the superintendent’s legal role weakens governance, damages staff morale and makes it harder to retain strong leadership. CSBA itself warns that blurring the line between board members and the superintendent can destabilize a district and contribute to leadership turnover.
Local bylaws exist to implement the law, not to override it.
California Education Code is clear. CSBA guidance is clear. Our board should be clear, too.
Erika Hennon Rule
LBUSD Parent
Aliso Viejo
Think twice. No, think three times.
The January 22 School Board meeting achieved a new low in Laguna Beach civic governance. At issue was Bylaw 9322 which currently states that creation of the Board Meeting Agenda is shared with the School Board and the Superintendent.
The board majority consisting of (Howard) Hills, (Sheri) Morgan and (Dee) Perry want to amend the Bylaw to state that the Board President has the final say. The drawback to this seemingly innocuous distinction is that it would allow the Board President to eliminate agenda items not to their liking and/or agendize issues that are not the responsibility of the School Board.
Dr. Glass gave a coherent presentation on the perils of this amendment, including the fact that none of the five top-performing school districts in California have such a process.
The manner in which Mr. Hills questioned Dr. Glass following his presentation was inappropriate and inexcusable. Any normal institution would censure a participant for that type of behavior.
It is clear to me that the board majority is not interested in education or our students. It seems to me they want to settle past grievances and consolidate power.
Unfortunately, our options as a community are limited. I urge anyone who cares at all about education in our community to be very careful when voting next November for a School Board Trustee. It is our best chance to correct this very unfortunate situation.
Jeb Brown
Laguna Beach
Fair Game “deeply troubling”
I needed to take some time before responding to your recent article, as I found it deeply troubling and dismissive of the very real concerns being raised by district staff.
Your article appears to be based largely on a single conversation with Board President Sheri Morgan.
I have known Sheri for more than 15 years and Howard Hills for more than 30. We were neighbors; our daughters attended school together. My perspective is not casual or uninformed. I have been part of this district for 35 years and have served extensively: PTA President at all three schools my children attended; Council President; a 12-year member of the Recreation Committee; a school bond campaign partner with board member Bob Whalen that passed with more than 86% voter approval; a Site Council and LCAP member at every school site, and a Booster Club representative for more than six years. I completed every term I was elected to and was never removed from any position.
Against that backdrop, I find it critical to ask:
Why did Sheri Morgan receive only three staff endorsement votes out of roughly 300 during the endorsement process?
Why did staff issue a no-confidence vote exceeding 90% in the current board?
Why has staff now publicly stated, with names attached, and even under possible fear of retaliation, that they believe she and Howard are unfit to serve?
In my 35 years in this community, I have never witnessed anything like what is happening now.
If your goal is to present all sides fairly, I would strongly encourage you to meet with the LaBUFA President Mr. Wittkop and me. We are long-time staff members, too, and our voices matter. This is a small community, and what was written in a single article has had a profoundly destructive impact.
Thasa Zuziak
LBUSD Staff Member and CSEA President
Words have meaning
I’m writing today about the Fair Game article you wrote about Sheri Morgan, the school board and the teachers’ union. This mish-mosh of “facts” leaves the reader more confused as to the goal of the article and what info you are trying to share with us.
You make no conclusions or provide any guiding light to assess this info. What happened in past public board meetings that set this up? Bring up the actions we see in those meetings.
One can claim they have no recollection of saying something, but when they said it on record, lucky for us as the public we don’t have to rely on that recollection given to defuse a situation or hide true intent.
I would expect that a journalist would have gone and watched the board meeting recording (all six hours of it) and determine for themselves what the truth was about what she said and reported that.
Words have meaning. This isn’t just something to fill the page, this article has a direct effect on our town and community as a whole and that accountability falls on you as a voice for the community. She played you. I hope you won’t let that happen again.
Thank you for being a voice for our town and while I felt it important to clearly share my feeling above, I want to be sure that I tell you I am a huge supporter of local news, and I am so glad our town has multiple news outlets to keep us informed. What you do is critically important to how our community operates, and I know that is not an easy job or one you take lightly.
Please consider the above has come from a parent who is new to this community, moving here for the schools and feeling very strongly about clear and fair public governance.
I do not know Sheri personally, only what I have observed in public meeting settings.
That alone has given me great concern in her and Howard Hills’ abilities to successfully manage this district, and so far it would seem to me that they do not care to participate in the collaborative process that is required of a school board. It seems like they believe they are always in the right even when others around them (Dr. Glass included) are telling them it’s not how this is done.
If you haven’t watched the board meeting held last night [Thursday, Jan. 22], I invite you to see the hours-long bylaws “conversation” where not one person in the audience, or those giving their expert opinion, agreed to the bylaw change; 11 in-person public comments and 16 pages of online were all against the change to give the board president ultimate control of what is on the meeting agendas.
The Superintendent has had an important check and balance authority taken from him and given to Sheri as board president. They passed it. A completely unnecessary change that may push Dr. Glass to leave.
I don’t understand why you would pull from the District release and then provide the analysis, “well that all sounds good.” It seems like you are trying to help her defend herself when I would think it’s your job to call out that hypocrisy of the indefensible behavior.
Kit Verdugo
Laguna Beach
Before you amplify Morgan’s reinvention tour you should talk to ex-board members
Super disappointed in your story about Sheri Morgan, new board president, and her relationship with the union.
First, your “playground fight” framing minimizes poor governance Laguna Beach Unified staff is enduring under Sheri Morgan and this dysfunctional majority school board.
Morgan has spent a decade or two as a grievance gadfly.
Her election didn’t erase that history; it amplified it. You failed to mention a staggering 90% staff no-confidence vote against the present board, specifically the majority board members – Morgan, Hills and Perry.
The union’s letter cited concrete issues, not “feelings”: Morgan inserting herself into meetings; taking notes staff may fear she’ll weaponize; staged “circle” formats and scripted questions driven by her, not leadership; introductions killing anonymity. Textbook power imbalances – not squabbles.
The union said “eroding” – trust, candor, climate. Your glib metaphor dismisses it.
Before amplifying Morgan’s “reinvention” tour, call past board members, PTA leaders and site staff from the last 15-20 years. Their consistent stories of grievance over solutions won’t match your piece.
Staff bravely speaks up despite risks. Take them seriously, don’t “send them to the principal.” Normalizing this hurts our schools and students.
I suggest you interview at least two former trustees or PTA leaders before platforming revisionism again. Their Sheri Morgan accounts won’t align with yours – our schools deserve that due diligence.
Leslie Elliott
Laguna Beach
