A letter from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to the Laguna Beach Unified School District wants a response within a week for how officials propose to address allegations of Brown Act violations in the termination and hiring of recent superintendents.
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“Without any intent to interfere in your review or opine on any potential violations of law at this time, we encourage the LBUSD board to ensure the provisions of the Brown Act are followed,” said the Thursday, June 17, letter signed by Senior Deputy District Attorney Avery T. Harrison to the district’s attorneys, Jonathan Pearl and Dannis Woliver Kelley.
The letter concludes, “Please advise me of your proposed course of action in response to these complaints within seven business days.”
The Brown Act requires local public agencies to publicly deliberate on all but a few topics, such as real estate negotiations and personnel matters that necessitate closed-door discussion, and take action in open, public forums to ensure transparency.
The letter, obtained by the Orange County Register from multiple sources, says the DA’s office had received numerous complaints about Brown Act violations relating to two special board meetings called in May when a board majority — in a 3-2 vote — dismissed Jason Glass, who was hired in July 2025, as superintendent and two days later held a second meeting to appoint a new superintendent, Don Austin.
Austin’s contract was finalized this month and he is set to start in July.
The letter also says the DA’s Office had been “provided” a copy of a “Cure and Correct Demand” letter regarding the board’s actions. The copy attached to the DA’s Office letter did not include information on the source of the demand notice, which outlines various government codes and examples of alleged Brown Act violations.
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The attached demand letter, which is addressed to the school board and district attorneys but does not indicate if it was ever delivered, argues that government code “prohibits a legislative body from calling a special meeting regarding salaries” and requires that “an employment contract with a superintendent shall be ratified in an open session of the governing body,” so based on public records available, the board’s action “appears inconsistent with the Brown Act and with the district’s own adopted governance policies regarding superintendent recruitment and selection.”
The senior deputy district attorney’s letter notes that the “Brown Act contains remedial measures that afford legislative bodies, such as the LBUSD board, the ability to ‘cure or correct’ potential violations upon written demand.”
Sheri Morgan, the school board president, said she hasn’t seen the letter and the school district’s attorney is responsible for handling these types of communications. District administrators did not respond immediately to requests sent to a district spokesperson for comment.
Kimberely Edds, spokesperson for the DA’s office, said the letter is meant to let the district know that the office is “aware” of these issues being raised and “to let us know what the plan is to address them.”
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“This should not be misconstrued as any formal action on our part,” Edds added.