Timeline

At the April 23, 2026 Board Governance Meeting, the board voted 4-1 to revise the existing ad hoc governance committee, adopting a superseding document brought forward by Trustee Hills. Trustee Malczewski voted no. Per the LBUSD recording, Malczewski declined to serve on the revised committee, stating that governance discussions touching on board bylaws belong in public session rather than in committee; she described the prior bylaw 9322 change as "not a small thing." (An earlier draft of this timeline dated this vote to April 30 based on the FUEL April 30 recap; the LBUSD recording confirms the actual vote occurred April 23.)

Per FUEL, approximately 400 people marched in solidarity with LBUSD staff and students prior to the regular board meeting. Per the Laguna Beach Independent's on-scene coverage, LaBUFA President Scott Wittkop and student representative Ivy Dabbs were among those on the record at the march. The same evening's board meeting included a fourth consecutive closed session with "Employee Discipline/ Dismissal/Release" on the agenda, with no report-out. Per Sensible Laguna, the march occurred concurrent with the scheduled board meeting and coincided with active union contract negotiations.

In a May 9, 2026 Substack post, George Weiss reported that on the evening of April 8, 2026, CSEA Chapter 131 President Thasa Zuziak addressed an audience at a Laguna Beach Democratic Club event. Weiss reports, citing a verbatim attendee account, that Zuziak stated the board wanted to cut staff, increase class sizes, cut counselors, and that the board "just cut the budget at all school sites 20%." Per Weiss, no such proposals appeared on the agenda or in subsequent board action at the April 9 board meeting, where trustees expressed continued support for small class sizes. The Democratic Club event itself is not independently sourced in this timeline.

Per Sensible Laguna (contributor Steve McIntosh), at a February 26, 2026 governance meeting, district legal counsel addressed the scope of board oversight authority over the superintendent. Per a separate April 30 FUEL recap, Trustee Hills has publicly framed the board- superintendent relationship under California Education Code section 35161 — the position that the superintendent's authority derives from board delegation and the board retains ultimate responsibility. Per the LBUSD recording, this meeting was the first scheduled governance training session with new board counsel Jonathan Pearl of Dannis Woliver Kelly, who presented on Board Bylaw series 9000, board-superintendent roles, and best practices.

At the February 12, 2026 regular board meeting (a roughly seven-hour session), the board voted 3-2 on a second reading to adopt revised Board Bylaw 9322 on agenda development authority. Morgan, Hills, and Perry voted in favor; Malczewski and Kelly opposed. A motion by Malczewski to revert to the original wording failed 2-3. Morgan added language allowing public members to appeal a denied agenda request to the board; Superintendent Glass advised this introduced unreviewed governance risk and suggested returning the item to counsel before adoption. At the same meeting, LaBUFA President Scott Wittkop and CSEA Chapter 131 President Thasa Zuziak announced they had filed a grievance over changes to the negotiation structure, with Wittkop stating it could delay the March 4 opening of negotiations. The board separately reported out of closed session a 3-2 vote "to include lead negotiators and the board only in closed sessions regarding a grievance case."

At the January 22, 2026 regular board meeting, the board voted 3-2 on a first reading of revised Board Bylaw 9322 governing agenda development authority. The amended language, proposed by Trustee Hills, gives the board president final approval over the agenda to be posted, subject to the authority of the board as a whole to direct placement of additional items. Hills, Kelly, and Morgan voted in favor; Malczewski and Perry opposed. Superintendent Glass publicly recommended against the change as drafted, citing four structural risks (gatekeeping risk, escalation ambiguity, operational and compliance risk, and institutional stability) and noting that his comparative review of CSBA-aligned policies in five states and high-performing California unified districts "did not identify any publicly accessible examples of presidential agenda resolution authority." Legal counsel advised the change was "legally permissible" but advised against an associated $50,000 consent-agenda threshold. A motion by Kelly to waive the first reading and vote immediately failed 1-4.

At the December 11, 2025 organizational meeting, the LBUSD Board of Education elected new leadership positions for the 2025-26 cycle on two 3-2 votes. Outgoing Board President Dee Perry declined to continue, stating: "I do not feel like I should continue on as the board president." Member Kelly moved to elect Sheri Morgan as President, seconded by Hills; a sub-motion to elect Joan Malczewski instead failed 2-3 (Malczewski and Perry yes; Morgan, Kelly, Hills no). The main motion electing Morgan as President passed 3-2 (Morgan, Kelly, Hills yes; Perry, Malczewski no). Member Kelly then moved to nominate Malczewski as Clerk; Hills offered a sub-motion to elect Perry as Clerk, which passed 3-2 (Hills, Morgan, Perry yes; Kelly, Malczewski no). Superintendent Glass was appointed Board Secretary per bylaw. Trustee Kelly stated on the record at this same meeting: "if I was he, I'd be looking for a job uh with the way that he has been treated in his first hundred days here by certain members of this board," foreshadowing his March 26, 2026 public statement that he had directly suggested Glass find another job.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System issued the revised final audit report for LBUSD (project code EA25-11; reporting unit 30076), covering special-pay reporting compliance for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24 under Education Code section 22206. The audit, conducted by Chief Auditor Cheryl Cervantes Dietz, reviewed five sampled 2%-at-60 CalSTRS members. The single retained finding states that LBUSD over-reported compensation for the February 15, 2024 LaBUFA MOU 1.25 percent off-salary-schedule payment: LBUSD calculated the payment on each employee's 2023-24 base salary plus additional stipends, while the MOU and applicable code base the calculation on base salary alone. The district was ordered to coordinate with the Orange County Department of Education and the CalSTRS Employer Services Audits Resolution Team on corrections via Form F496, to provide a list of all affected members within sixty days, and to recover overpaid amounts under Education Code section 24616.2; penalties and interest may be assessed. A second finding from the June 2025 original final report — concerning the professional growth stipend's classification as special pay — was removed in this revised version after LBUSD's written response of March 17, 2025. The CalSTRS audit is separate from the Bishop and Olafson health-and-welfare benefits audit.

At the October 23, 2025 regular board meeting, the LBUSD Board voted 4-1 to authorize retaining the law firm Dannis Woliver Kelley (DWK) for a one-year term. Trustee James J. Kelly voted no. DWK is the firm that subsequently assigned John Pearl as LBUSD board counsel and that has led several governance training sessions for the board.

At the September 25, 2025 regular board meeting, Brandon Waldron of Eide Bailly's fraud and forensics department presented findings from a forensic audit of LBUSD signature authority and check disbursements covering December 1, 2024 through March 30, 2025. The audit reviewed 79 contract documents and 975 of 1,153 checks (with 140 checks not provided because the county had not delivered them to the district); total disbursements in scope were approximately $8.9 million. Waldron reported that during former Superintendent Viloria's active tenure only one contract was signed by him; his check-running access was deactivated two days after his December 31, 2024 departure; however his pre-programmed signature continued auto-printing on district checks for three months until removed in April 2025. Waldron characterized the work as a forensic audit of signature authority, "not a fraud investigation," and stated he found contracts "in line with the purchasing policies"; no malfeasance finding was articulated at this meeting.

In a Substack post published May 9, 2026, former Laguna Beach City Councilmember George Weiss alleged that following a September 25, 2025 board meeting, Superintendent Glass drafted talking points and issued an "It's a Wrap" district communication declaring that the audit found "no evidence of malfeasance" and that no fraud or intentional misconduct had been identified. Weiss further alleged that Trustee Howard Hills emailed Glass arguing he was prejudging legal matters that could expose the district to civil liability and demanded either a retraction or Glass's recusal from related deliberations. Per Weiss, Board members Morgan and Perry concurrently pushed for a broader forensic audit covering all district contracts; Glass advised that expanding the scope would cost approximately $50,000 and require significant staff time. The underlying email exchange and the "It's a Wrap" communication have not been independently corroborated in this timeline.

Per Sensible Laguna, the board voted 3-2 to conduct a brief review verifying no exposure existed from Superintendent Viloria's continued post-termination access to district email, credentials, and certain accounts. Sensible Laguna reports that Board Member Joan Malczewski dissented, stating there was no evidence of "financial fraud."

A letter to the Laguna Beach Independent published February 7, 2025 by Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal publicly introduced FUEL — Families Unified for Education in Laguna — and self-described the organization as a 501(c)(4) non-profit advocacy group focused on LBUSD. Sheik-Sadhal, identified as FUEL's Chair, is a California-licensed attorney (State Bar #210807) and serves as Of Counsel to The Mitzel Group; her practice areas, per her firm biography, include equity and debt financings, board compliance, and mergers and acquisitions. FUEL's own website states the organization was established in early 2025 and is "funded entirely by its board and community members" and does not accept "outside political money or corporate donations." Under United States Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(4): donations are not tax-deductible to the donor; donor names are not required to be publicly disclosed on the publicly released portions of annual Form 990 filings; substantial lobbying is permitted; and campaign activity is permitted so long as it is not the organization's primary purpose. FUEL's nine-member board is published on the organization's website. Two board members (Emily Rolfing and Iva Pawling) have publicly disclosed prior roles as Trustees of SchoolPower, the LBUSD education foundation. As of the publication of this timeline, FUEL's EIN, IRS determination letter, California Secretary of State registration number, and any Form 990 filings have not been independently verified through primary IRS or California Secretary of State sources reviewed for this timeline.

Voice of OC published reporting on the new LBUSD board's interim superintendent search process. The coverage referenced concerns raised by past and present board members regarding Brown Act compliance during the search. A follow-up piece published January 13, 2025 covered Dr. JoAnn Culverhouse's interim role and a former LBUSD principal who declined a similar appointment. The substance of the alleged Brown Act issues, beyond the characterizations attributed to past board members in the Voice of OC coverage, has not been independently adjudicated in this timeline.