Laguna Beach Unified board selects Leadership Associates to run superintendent search

The Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to ask staff to prepare a contract with Leadership Associates to conduct the district’s search for a new superintendent after interviewing two finalist firms.

Leadership Associates and Education Leadership Services each made 20-minute presentations and answered board questions at the meeting. Peggy Lynch, a partner at Leadership Associates, told the board that “selecting a superintendent is probably one of your most important jobs, if not the most important job that you have,” and described the firm as a long‑running California partnership that has done hundreds of searches and emphasizes candidate diversity.

The firms outlined similar search steps — board planning, focus groups and surveys, targeted recruitment, reference checks and finalist interviews — and both offered post‑placement mentoring for the incoming superintendent. Clint Harwick, who led the Education Leadership Services presentation, said the work is twofold: “finding you the right superintendent” and helping the board set a vision and strategic plan to guide that leader.

Why it matters: The superintendent hire will shape district leadership and operations at a moment of board turnover and community attention. Board members repeatedly asked firms how they would handle Laguna Beach’s status as a basic‑aid (community‑funded) district, how they would recruit diverse and innovation‑minded candidates, and how they would help the board build governance practices after recent contentious meetings.

What the firms said: - Leadership Associates emphasized statewide reach, partner networks, and a long track record. Lynch and partner Mark Ecker highlighted the firm’s recruiting networks and ongoing leadership development for placed superintendents; the presenters said more than two‑thirds of the finalists they recently brought forward were women or candidates of color. The firm described a three‑person core team (two lead partners plus an executive assistant) that would run the search and noted they involve a broader partnership for outreach and reference work. - Education Leadership Services (ELS) described a 19‑member partnership of recently retired California superintendents and administrators and said it would dedicate a four‑person team to the search. ELS emphasized tailoring recruitment to small districts and offered board workshops and follow‑up coaching as part of its package.

Board concerns and discussion: Members asked how each firm would ensure publicly reliable, inclusive stakeholder input (parents, staff, students, city partners and service clubs), how candidate references would be validated beyond provided lists, and whether firms had professional connections to current board members or district staff. Both firms said they would present full survey results and an executive summary to the board, hold both small focus groups and broader town‑hall style input sessions (including student groups), and perform additional reference checks beyond those supplied by candidates.

Public comment: Parent and community advocate Shaheen Shaikh Settle urged a “transparent, professional, and student‑centered” process and told firms and candidates: “The students of this district deserve greatness.”

Action taken: A motion asking staff to prepare a contract with Leadership Associates passed unanimously. The board chair called for continued governance work; both firms and several board members recommended a governance workshop so the board could clarify the district’s priorities and the leadership profile before finalists are interviewed.

Next steps: Staff will draft contract language and return to the board for formal approval. Both firms described a typical timeline that begins with a planning meeting, stakeholder input, a published position description, targeted recruitment and finalist interviews; they also said they would provide onboarding support and mentoring for the new superintendent once hired. The board scheduled follow‑up business and referenced a governance workshop as part of the search process.

Ending: The board chose Leadership Associates as the vendor to prepare a superintendent search contract and directed staff to return with contract documents; board members agreed the district should proceed with a process designed to produce a strong, long‑term superintendent who can work with the newly constituted board and the Laguna Beach community.