Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staff And Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenters and union leaders tell Laguna Beach school board staff feel ‘demoralized’ and urge protections for students
Summary
At a Feb. 24 governance workshop, parents, a union leader and a student criticized recent board conduct, called for stronger protections for student privacy and urged the board to publicly support staff and improve agenda planning.
Public commenters at the Laguna Beach Unified School District governance workshop on Feb. 24 pressed trustees to address what they described as a toxic tone in recent meetings, calling on the board to protect students’ privacy and to reaffirm public support for staff.
Thesa Zuziak, president of the Classified School Employees Association, chapter 131, told the board it must end rhetoric that has left employees “demoralized, intimidated, disrespected, and devalued.” She criticized a recent public-records request she said targeted staff residency and warned that using district resources to scrutinize union business could amount to harassment of staff and unions.
“Staff have the right to live where they can afford to live and work for Laguna Beach Unified,” Zuziak said. “It is time for this board to shift its focus back to its number one responsibility, students.”
Other speakers raised specific safety and privacy concerns. Richard Ahram said a public commenter at a prior meeting had yelled at two seventh-graders who were attending to observe the process and later photographed them; he said the school resource officer intervened and ordered deletion of the images. “It is illegal to photograph a student on school grounds without the parents’ permission,” Ahram said, urging the board to treat student privacy seriously and to avoid naming or discussing individual children in public forums.
Student board member Carter McKenzie said students were disappointed when the board pulled a proposed sustainability loan from a prior agenda and asked that student board members be invited to governance sessions per board bylaw 9150. “Don’t pack an agenda so full if you can’t meet everything,” he said, describing students’ frustration when items they prepared to speak about were removed.
Parent speakers pressed the board to adopt clearer, kinder meeting norms and to consider a policy restricting attendee photography at meetings outside of recognition events, saying some parents and students feel intimidated. Several speakers urged the board to issue a public statement or resolution affirming its support for educators and staff.
Board members acknowledged the concerns and said the governance workshop—led by outside experts from Leadership Associates and the law firm Best Best & Krieger—was a step toward clarifying roles, rebuilding trust and improving procedures. The board scheduled a special meeting on March 6 with Leadership Associates to advance the superintendent search and follow-up governance work, and the next regular meeting is March 13.
The board did not take any formal disciplinary action at the workshop; discussion focused on improving practices and on the superintendent search process.
