Regular Board Meeting (Open Session)

Summary

The May 14, 2026 LBUSD Board of Education regular meeting opened immediately after a 3:30 p.m. special closed session at which the board took up the Don Austin appointment and the Manoj Roychowdhury interim arrangement; the board moved the formal closed-session report-out to a second closed session at the end of the meeting, which the open recording does not capture. The open session itself was dominated by public comment responding to the prior-week mutual-separation agreement with Superintendent Jason Glass and the same-day announcement of Austin's appointment. Student speakers (Sophie Moss, Samiya Sheik-Sadhal, Thomas Chernow, Kate Chaldu) and staff/community speakers (Shannon Chastain, Iva Pawling, Meredith McMahon, Kathy A.) addressed the board majority (Hills, Morgan, Perry) directly, defending Glass and criticizing the manner of the Austin process; LaBUFA President Scott Wittkop and Interim Superintendent Manoj Roychowdhury each urged the community to give Austin a chance. CSEA Chapter 131 President Thasa Zuziak delivered the closing public comment. Items 8A (LCAP 2026-27) and 8B (2026-27 budget) were public hearings only, not adoption votes (adoption scheduled for June 8, 2026). Item 9A (Communications Plan) was an information item. Item 12A (Election Resolution 2604) was approved. The meeting adjourned to a closed session whose report-out is not in the open recording.

Key insights (12)

• Closed-session timing: the Austin appointment and Roychowdhury interim were taken up in a 3:30 p.m. special closed session preceding the regular open meeting. President Morgan opened the meeting (00:12): "We do not have a report out of closed session because we have moved to have closed session at the end of the meeting." The meeting then adjourned to a second closed session at 05:22 without a captured report-out — the vote counts on Austin and Roychowdhury remain publicly unreported as of this recording.
• Student board representative Logan Marshall and Ivy Dabbs each gave substantive on-record reports. Marshall, in a section titled around fascism and incremental power consolidation: "the behavior of those who have a constant desire for more power eerily mimics the behavior of the board majority." Dabbs: "Dr. Glass's immediate sudden removal was, and I quote, weird, unfair, sad, and unexpected."
• Trustee Joan Malczewski's report (01:02): "The most common question I'm getting is who's next? That question doesn't emerge in healthy organizations. It emerges where people feel vulnerable, fearful, and unsafe." Malczewski credited Glass with bringing "steadiness, professionalism, educational expertise, and deep commitment to students during a very unstable time" and characterized the May 12 settlement decision as "potentially destabilizing" and "cruel."
• LaBUFA President Scott Wittkop publicly endorsed giving Austin a fair start: "I implore you to let our new superintendent do his job. I felt like the last one did not get that opportunity, so I implore all five of you to give him a shot. He is definitely more than qualified to run this district." Wittkop noted Austin was previously principal at LBHS through 2011 and helped originate the high school's CTE pathways.
• Interim Superintendent Manoj Roychowdhury's first report in his new role: "First and foremost, I want to thank the board for giving me the opportunity to step in as the interim role. And I'm also glad to hear Dr. Don Austin's name being proposed as the superintendent for the school district."
• Public comment claim (04:57): a speaker stated, "I know Don Austin. I liked Don Austin. But to appoint him without any board process or community input is disgraceful. The board majority has been strategizing for this since the first of six closed sessions in March." The "six closed sessions in March" claim is corroboration-pending against BoardDocs agenda titles.
• CSEA Chapter 131 President Thasa Zuziak's closing public comment (05:19) anchored the union's audit framing: "1.04 million. Stop the 1.77 million. Our CBO has said it over and over. Stop your narrative and stop ignoring the fact that for two years we overpaid." Aligns with the existing $1.77M-vs-$1.04M reconciliation already in the financials section of this timeline.
• Zuziak confirmed her December 2025 unanimous re-election as CSEA Chapter 131 President: "I was unanimously elected and re-elected by the classified staff in December. I am not paid for this. I don't get a dime. It is volunteer work." This is the first dated on-record confirmation of her December re-election in this timeline.
• Zuziak alleged on the record that union leadership filed workplace-violence complaints against Sensible Laguna co-founder Steve McIntosh: "Mr. McIntosh, who threatens parents here, who threatened the other union president and I... we sit here as staff members and union leaders, and we have to sit here and be threatened. And he gets to sit on a committee. We had to file workplace violence complaints against him, and he gets to sit on a fist [committee]." This is treated as a public-comment claim — what was said on the record — pending independent corroboration.
• Item 8A (LCAP 2026-27): public hearing only; not adopted at this meeting. Item 8B (2026-27 budget): public hearing only; not adopted. Both are scheduled for adoption at the June 8, 2026 meeting. Item 9A (Communications Plan): information item; no vote.
• Item 12A (Election Resolution 2604) was approved (specific vote count not cleanly captured in the auto-transcript).
• Order-of-business note: the board majority moved an audience-conduct procedural exchange near the start of the meeting (President Morgan: "this is a business meeting… we have policy about disruption"); student board rep Logan Marshall raised a point of inquiry asking where in the bylaws cheering specifically constitutes disruption, citing the Brown Act's "actual disruption" standard.

Linked timeline events (5)

• Jul 1, 2026 Dr. Don Austin's term as Superintendent begins
• Jun 1, 2026 Manoj Roychowdhury's interim superintendency begins
• May 31, 2026 Glass's scheduled last day as Superintendent
• May 14, 2026 Board appoints Dr. Don Austin as next superintendent
• May 12, 2026 Board votes 3–2 in closed session on Glass separation; joint statement issued