Trustees Still Quiet on Superintendent

Despite nearly 90 minutes behind closed doors on Saturday, trustees of the Laguna Beach Unified School District declined to reveal any new information about Supt. Reed Montgomery’s unexplained monthlong absence.

The board took no action in the private meeting held to discuss “employee discipline, dismissal, and/or release.” Kathryn A. Turner, the board president, read in a brief statement when the meeting was reopened to the public at 3:20 p.m.

“We are looking for a very quick resolution to this situation,” she said. “We have directed our attorneys to gather additional information, and we will discuss the matter at our regularly scheduled weekly meeting on Tuesday in the closed session.”

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The meeting is the latest episode in the mysterious absence of Montgomery, who has not shown up for work since Dec. 5. He asked the board for a paid medical leave for one month, but twice the school board rejected his request because board members said they lacked adequate information.

When Montgomery, 51, said he planned to return to the district on Jan. 5, the board placed him on paid administrative leave until the outcome of a physical examination to be performed by a district-appointed doctor.

Saturday’s meeting was announced one day after Montgomery’s scheduled exam. Board members confirmed that he met with a doctor, but Turner, acting as spokeswoman for the board, declined to comment on whether Montgomery was examined.

Besides the five school board members, two lawyers advising the district from the Los Angeles County law firm of Liebert, Cassidy and Friaerson attended the closed-door meeting. Montgomery was not invited, but Turner said she left a message on his answering machine at home alerting him of the board’s plans.

If Montgomery is fired, the school board must notify him in writing and allow him 10 days to respond, according to his contract.

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For weeks, parents, teachers and others in the school community have been talking about the superintendent’s absence. But school board officials said the district is running smoothly because of Barbara Callard, the high school principal, who is also acting as the district’s chief administrator. The three other school principals also have been helping out.

“We’re in excellent hands with them and feel no sense of instability,” Trustee Robert J. Whalen said.

Montgomery was hired last June to bring leadership to the district after a stormy year in which the county nearly took over the Laguna school system and its top officials were ousted.

He could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Before the school board began its closed-door meeting, it invited comments from the few members of the community sitting in the audience. Among them were Marge and Bob Earl, who headed the search committee for a new superintendent when he was hired. They said they were sorry he had not been invited to attend.

“The whole thing is just upsetting to the district,” Marge Earl said.