Board divides on acting superintendent contract; Leadership Associates advising agreement approved

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board engaged in sustained debate over a proposed employment contract for Acting Superintendent Jeff Dixon, with trustees split over whether the full board had adequate time to review negotiated terms. After extended discussion and public comment urging prompt action, the board voted to delay final approval and tabled the contract for a future meeting to allow additional review and to complete contingent arrangements.

Several trustees said the contract language had arrived with the posted agenda and deserved more time for review. Member Hills said the contract was being considered for the first time when the agenda was published and asked for clarifications on specific language before approving it. Other trustees and multiple public speakers — including union representatives — urged swift approval, saying Mr. Dixon had been performing the duties and had broad staff support.

In a related governance action the board approved service agreements with Leadership Associates (for governance workshops and the superintendent search) and separately approved a not-to-exceed $18,000 agreement for executive advising to support the acting superintendent’s onboarding and the superintendent search process. Those motions were moved, seconded and approved by the board during the meeting.

The meeting record shows trustees exchanged procedural arguments about closed-session negotiations and which board members had been included in those discussions; no final, fully executed employment contract was reported during this session. Staff confirmed that negotiations were ongoing earlier in the month and that certain conditions and implementation details remained to be finalized before execution.