Jason Glass, a superintendent for the Laguna Beach Unified School District, was handed his walking papers on Tuesday, May 12, following a closed-session meeting.
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He will leave the district on May 31, after less than a year in the job.
“The governing board of the Laguna Beach Unified School District and Dr. Jason Glass have reached a mutual agreement to conclude Dr. Glass’s services as superintendent,” a statement from the school board read Tuesday afternoon.
“The governing board thanks Dr. Glass for his service and dedication to the students, staff and families of Laguna Beach Unified School District and wishes him well in future endeavors,” the statement continued. “Dr. Glass expresses gratitude for the opportunity to serve this exceptional community and wishes the district continued success.”
No further comments were available from Glass or school board members following the vote. The board continued its study session, reviewing the district’s budget, said Anakaren Ureno, the district’s spokesperson. Glass declined to comment further when reached Tuesday evening.
The news, after a 3-2 vote, follows an already contentious environment in the small beach town school district, where, in April, hundreds of teachers, school staff, parents and students protested the majority’s chokehold on Glass and the district more broadly.
The three-member majority — Sheri Morgan, Howard Hills and Dee Perry — has been accused of being overbearing and destabilizing the district.
Staff and families have argued that they’ve had no voice with the board since Morgan, now the board president, and Hills were elected in 2024 and formed an alliance with Perry to dominate the conversation and agenda in the district. Staff and families alleged there have been repercussions for those who speak out, and teachers feel intimidated and distracted from their classrooms.
The board majority has overshadowed the district’s staff, including Glass, even directing how school-specific concerns are addressed, and created a lack of transparency by making decisions in a vacuum, said Thasa Zuziak, president of California School Employees Association Chapter 131 representing the district’s 150 classified employees, and Scott Wittkop, a graphic arts teacher at Laguna Beach High and the representative for the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Association, which includes 170 certificated teachers.
Zuziak and Wittkop coordinated the April protest, which brought hundreds to Main Beach to publicly voice their grievances. Among their primary concerns was what would happen to Glass.
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The two union representatives were among 30 people waiting for the outcome on Tuesday and said that while they are deeply saddened and shocked, they were not surprised.
“They have had employee discipline and removal on their agenda for the last six months, and they have done an off-cycle evaluation of him,” Zuziak said ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Zuziak said following the meeting, the group reacted by yelling, “Shame on you.”
“Teachers and staff are upset; this is incredibly destabilizing and just takes us all down to another level,” she said. “He worked under such a hostile environment. They moved him and his family out here and paid almost $1 million and tied his hands from Day 1. They are horrible and destroying us.”
Glass, an educator with experience in state and university systems, was hired by the school board in July.
At the time, Hills praised him as “the most experienced and qualified superintendent we have had for at least two decades.”
“At a time when national education experts view California school board politics as financially crisis-driven and politically confrontational, he comes from the heartland with fresh new perspectives and ideas,” Hills said then. “He has civic governance maturity; we need to enhance an underperforming governance culture.”
Most recently, Glass served as the associate vice president of teaching and learning at Western Michigan University. He’s also been the commissioner of education for the state of Kentucky and the director of education for the state of Iowa. Before that, he worked at the Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado’s second-largest district, and in the Eagle County School District.
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