Laguna Beach school board wraps up hunt for superintendent, expects to appoint Jason Glass

The Laguna Beach Unified School District is expected to announce early next month the appointment of a new superintendent, as the board of education opened Thursday night’s meeting with news that it had determined a top candidate.

Dee Perry, president of the board, made the announcement after the subject matter of the superintendent appeared on the closed session agenda.

“I’m very proud of our board for really pulling together and choosing a candidate that we can all get behind,” Perry said. “We are thrilled to report that the entire board is 100% behind Dr. Jason Glass.”

Glass had served as vice president of teaching and learning at Western Michigan University since September 2023. Prior to that, he was a commissioner at the Kentucky Department of Education for three years.

He also held the position of superintendent at the Eagle County School District (July 2013 to June 2017) and at Jeffco Public Schools (June 2017 to September 2020) — based in Eagle and Golden, Colo., respectively.

“Dr. Glass has championed student-centered learning, innovation, and whole-child development, which are important to us,” Perry said. “Most recently in his position, he advanced efforts in experiential-based learning, early college access, innovation and instruction, and artificial intelligence.”

Reading from a statement, Perry noted that Glass “brings more than 25 years of experience” in roles that included classroom teaching, district and state-level leadership, and executive roles in higher education. She said the Glass family would be relocating to Laguna Beach with their two children.

Upon ratification of a contract, the board plans to appoint Glass as the district’s new superintendent at its next regular business meeting on June 9, she said.

Jeff Dixon, the assistant superintendent of business services, had stepped in as acting superintendent during the search for a successor to Jason Viloria, whose contract was terminated in December. The board said at that time the decision was due to “anticipated changes in the governing board that may influence the direction and priorities of the district moving forward.”

“I also want to take this chance to personally thank Mr. Dixon for all your incredible contributions during this time of transition,” Perry said. “I know this was a challenging situation. You handled it very well. Your calm confidence, excellent judgment and skills are appreciated by all of us.”

Perry said there were approximately 40 candidates for the superintendent opening.

“I personally believe anyone could have done it,” Dixon said of filling in for the role. “Thanks to our wonderful students, our team, our community, our bargaining unit partners. I just was fortunate enough to put the word acting in front of the title. It means a lot to me that we have a new superintendent coming. I want to congratulate and thank the board for all the work on that. I know it was a lot of hours and a lot of work, and I’m positive we’re going to set this superintendent up for a lot of success. We’re grateful that this process is coming to an end.”