Laguna Beach school district approves amended contracts, with pay increases, for superintendent and 2 other administrators

Laguna Beach Unified School District Supt. Jason Viloria and two other administrators will see their pay increase in coming years after the board approved a set of amended contracts.

Viloria — along with Leisa Winston, assistant superintendent of human resources and public communications, and Jeffrey Dixon, assistant superintendent of business services — received a 4% pay increase as a cost-of-living adjustment, according to Dawn Brown, the district’s human-resources technician.

Those boosts, which were effective Monday, mirror those approved for the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Assn. and California School Employees Assn., which represent other district employees.

All three administrator contracts run through June 30, 2022, and were approved by the district board June 25 on a 4-0 vote, with member Dee Perry absent.

Over the life of his contract, Viloria will see an 8% pay increase — the cost-of-living adjustment, plus a “longevity” bump that kicks in beginning in his fourth year with the district.

Viloria was appointed as superintendent in 2016, replacing Sherine Smith.

His new base salary will be $281,464 with an additional monthly stipend of $250 for work-related costs like a cell phone, internet and other business expenses. Under the contract, he would earn $304,431 a year beginning in July 2021.

Dixon will see his base salary grow by 6.5% — the cost-of-living adjustment plus a 2.5% “step increase.” Dixon, who was appointed to his role in 2017, will now have a base salary of $199,739.

The difference in “steps” for administrators is generally 2.5%, except for moving from Step 6 to 7, as Winston is doing. She will receive an 8% raise on top of her cost-of-living adjustment — increasing her base salary to $230,178, according to Brown.

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