Laguna Beach Unified details shift to restorative, progressive discipline; trustees press on implementation and reporting

The Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education on Oct. 23 heard a detailed presentation on the district's shift from exclusionary discipline toward a human‑centered progressive discipline framework grounded in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and restorative practices. Superintendent Jason Glass and school leaders said the approach emphasizes skill building, accountability and reintegration, not punishment.

"We don't wanna use suspension as a first response," said Dr. Keller (speaker 16), summarizing the district's aim to reduce exclusionary discipline while complying with state law. Keller displayed district data showing a 1.7% districtwide suspension rate last year (representing roughly 40 students) and site trends that have dropped Thurston Middle School's rate from about 7% several years ago to roughly 3% last year and under 1% this year.

Principals described classroom and school‑level practices that replace or supplement suspension. Thurston Principal Joe Vidal (speaker 17) said staff use community‑building circles, targeted monthly interventions, and student‑led "student success panels" (peer court) so students "create a restitution plan" that may include apologies, tutoring or campus service. Vidal recounted a case where a student told a counselor the peer process "was harder than being suspended, but it helped me fix what I broke," a staff example of restorative impact.

Trustees pressed staff on operational details. Trustee Morgan (speaker 18) asked what behaviors move a case from Tier 1 supports to Tier 2 or Tier 3, and when exclusion is required under Education Code. District staff answered that decisions are incident‑ and impact‑driven, that some Education Code violations mandate exclusion, and that principals follow due process and consult legal counsel when cases are complex.

Students and trustees also raised concerns about the district's anonymous reporting line, WeTip. Student representative Ivy (speaker 22) said students perceive the system as not truly anonymous; district staff responded that WeTip is managed by an external vendor, that identifying information is not shared with the district unless a tipster discloses it, and that staff follow up on safety‑critical reports within 24 hours. Keller said the district logged about 60 WeTip submissions last year and categorized about 25% as actionable; the remainder were informational.

District leaders said restorative work is embedded into a broader MTSS/LCAP framework and that implementation fidelity, staff training and communication are critical. They pledged to provide additional data and clarifying materials to trustees in follow‑up reports and the weekly communications update.

What happens next: staff will continue training and data collection, report back with more detailed suspension and program fidelity metrics, and work with unions and site teams to refine processes and communications.