Kelly Osborne and Jan Vickers were ahead late Tuesday night in early election returns for two open seats on the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.
Osborne and Vickers respectively earned 31.62% and 24.01% of the vote. They were trailed by Amy Kramer with 19.01%, Sheri Morgan with 16.42%, and Howard Hills with 8.94%. Although his name appeared on the ballot, Hills withdrew from the campaign early and endorsed Kramer and Morgan.
Vickers is looking to add another term to her school board tenure, which stretches back to 2000. She first ran for office after the controversial closure of Aliso Elementary in 1981.
If the results hold, Laguna Beach voters will have vindicated Vickers’ role in helping the school district navigate the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, including the school board’s controversial decisions to keep campuses closed for months. Elementary students returned to their classrooms on Oct. 5 and Thurston Middle School and Laguna Beach High School are scheduled to resume in-person instruction on Nov. 23.
Laguna Beach parent and volunteer Kelly Osborne has spent the past six years as a volunteer for Laguna Beach schools, serving as president of both the Top of the World Elementary PTA and Laguna Beach PTA Council, which oversees PTAs in all four schools.
If Osborne is elected she would occupy a board seat currently occupied by board president Peggy Wolff, who decided not to run for reelection.
Candidates Amy Kramer and Sheri Morgan branded themselves as agents of change for a school board that was plagued by controversy even before COVID-19. Board member Dee Perry filed a complaint in California court claiming retaliation and discrimination by the board majority and Supt. Jason Viloria. After months of legal wrangling, a federal judge dismissed Perry’s complaint with prejudice.
Morgan has repeatedly raised concerns during board meetings over the school district’s legal fees in the Perry case. In her opinion, the conflict should have been settled in arbitration.
More broadly, Kramer and Morgan pledged to take more active roles on a school board that historically doesn’t stray from recommendations from district administrators.
This story is developing and will be updated as necessary.
