An outside investigation into a chaotic protest that erupted outside a Laguna Beach Unified School District board meeting in May has cleared demonstrators of any criminal wrongdoing, even as it found the district was unprepared to manage the crowd that showed up. The Board of Education voted 5-0 to release the findings at its Sept. 10 meeting, closing out a review that examined everything from surveillance footage to text messages exchanged among staff.
The report, dated Aug. 24, was compiled by investigators Ruth Perez Ashley and Thomas Hickman at the request of the district’s law firm, Dannis Woliver Kelley. According to publicrecordlaguna.com, investigators reviewed surveillance footage and other videos, emails, text messages, policies and records, and interviewed all five trustees along with district personnel and community members, including board members James Kelly and Joan Malczewski. The investigation also included interviews with Scott Wittkop and Thasa Zuziak, and investigators reportedly conducted interviews with 14 individuals in mid-July. Board President Sheri Morgan said the review assessed existing procedures and recommended stronger safety protocols compliant with the First Amendment and applicable law, according to the Los Angeles Times.
What Happened on May 14
The protest unfolded the same evening the board voted 3-2 to appoint Don Austin as superintendent, just two days after trustees had voted 3-2 to execute a separation agreement with outgoing superintendent Jason Glass. Police estimated approximately 100 parents, students and district staff took part, while witnesses put the number closer to 200, per the Los Angeles Times. Demonstrators gathered outside the Thurston Middle School library, where the meeting was held, chanting “shame on you” and directing heated remarks at Morgan, Trustee Dee Perry and Trustee Howard Hills. Video footage reviewed by investigators showed protesters also directing derogatory comments at Hills.
District official Joseph Vidal notified school resource officers and supervisory staff to monitor campus activity and delayed the protest until after student dismissal, the Times reported. Vidal said students initially complied with his requests to stop yelling but later became unruly. The public largely complied with instructions to arrive during a specified 3:30 p.m. timeframe after buses had already left campus. Morgan told the paper she was escorted from her car into the board room by two police officers and described walking through the crowd as a gauntlet and a walk of shame.
Investigators Find No Crime, but Note Confusion Over Perry
Investigators concluded the May 14 demonstration amounted to protected First Amendment activity and found no evidence of criminal activity or intent to physically harm board members, staff, parents, children or anyone else, according to publicrecordlaguna.com’s account of the report. The investigative report characterized the demonstration as an intense, loud exercise of First Amendment rights targeted at specific board members, and investigators determined the meeting itself was louder and more disruptive than usual but remained nonviolent.
The report’s account of Perry’s experience at the meeting diverges from other descriptions circulating afterward. Perry said a protester came toward her face and startled her, and said she lost her balance. Investigators, drawing on video footage and witness testimony, found that no protesters physically approached her and that she instead walked toward a parent and stumbled into her. The conflicting accounts leave the circumstances disputed, and the investigation’s conclusion stands as the district’s official finding.
Security Gaps and a Scramble to Fix Them
The report also found that the district had no designated area for demonstrators to clear a path to the board room, and it identified a broader lack of systems for handling protests at meetings. Investigators noted that protesters were allowed to place signage on bookshelves behind the dais before board members returned from closed session — a detail underscoring how little structure existed that night.
The district didn’t wait for the report to start making changes. Five days after the rally, on May 19, administrators met with Laguna Beach’s city manager, city attorney and police chief — identified in district records as Dave Kiff, Jeff Calvert and the city’s legal team — to clarify law enforcement’s role during protests and larger crowds, publicrecordlaguna.com reported. Manoj Roychowdhury corresponded with district staff, police and community members about safety protocols on May 21, and by June 3 the district had already implemented or begun implementing new measures, including reserved board parking, directional signage, separate board access, controlled restrooms, crowd-management procedures and ingress-and-egress protocols. Those efforts also produced restricted-access signage and a separate secure library entrance. By the following board meeting on June 4, the district’s posture had visibly changed, with notice-restriction signs and stanchions appearing, according to lagunabeachchat.com. The outside investigation itself wasn’t assigned until July 1 — well after those security changes were already underway — and the district said it cost $15,000.
What the Report Recommends Going Forward
The investigation’s recommendations go beyond what the district had already put in place. It called for clearer crowd-management procedures, defined staff responsibilities and improved board access, along with consideration of another venue for unusually large meetings. The report also proposed a steering committee to develop and implement a plan for maintaining order during public meetings, security roles established through training and refined law-enforcement agreements, and a written statement the board president could recite in certain circumstances to preserve decorum.
A Wider Pattern of Discontent
The May 14 protest didn’t emerge out of nowhere. A month earlier, on April 16, roughly 400 people marched from the district office down Park Avenue to Main Beach and back before a board meeting, an event organized by the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Association and the California School Employees Association, according to the Laguna Beach Indy. That march included teachers, staff, parents and students calling for changes in school board leadership. As the Orange County Register reported days later, complaints against the board had been building from union representatives, parents, students and retired teachers alike, setting the stage for the tension that boiled over on May 14.
ACLU Raises Separate Brown Act Concerns
Apart from the investigation, the ACLU of Southern California has raised its own objection to how the board handled the aftermath of the protest. In a letter dated July 7, the organization alleged the Board of Education violated California’s Brown Act by discussing the May 14 protest in closed session, and it demanded the district cure or correct the alleged violations, per a guest opinion published by the Laguna Beach Indy.
