WEEKEND, June 13-14, 2026
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Ex-supe sought a new job BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Daily Post Staff Writer
Former Superintendent Don Austin applied for a job in Laguna Beach last summer and ended up there a year later, after getting $596,802 to resign from Palo Alto. AUSTIN Austin was a candidate at the same time that 1,491 parents
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signed a petition against his contract renewal in Palo Alto. Laguna Beach board president Sheri Morgan revealed that Austin was a prior candidate at a meeting last week, when the board voted 3-2 to approve Austin’s four-year contract with a $450,000 salary. Austin has stirred up controversy
among a divided board in Laguna Beach because his hiring was announced two days after the board separated from its previous superintendent. “Somebody is making decisions and negotiating on behalf of the board with no direction from the board,” Laguna Beach board member Joan Malczewski said at a meeting on June 4.
Tale of two districts in turmoil
Palo Alto and Laguna Beach’s tumultuous searches for a new leader have been intertwined by the resignation and hiring of Superintendent Don Austin. By July 1, Laguna Beach will be on its fifth acting or permanent superintendent in the last 18 months,
and Palo Alto will get its fourth leader since February. Here’s a timeline of recent and upcoming events:
MAY 30, 2025 — Palo Alto parents start a petition against Austin’s contract renewal.
MASS SHOOTING: A gunman killed 1 person and injured 10 others in Midland, Texas, before prompting an hours-long standoff that ended when the suspect was found dead by cops.
FILM CRITIC DIES: Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the “Today” show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groanSHALIT inducing puns, has died. He was 100.
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JUNE 3 — The board votes 4-1 to extend Austin’s contract for three years. JUNE 9 — The Laguna Beach board hires Superintendent Jason Glass. FEB. 20, 2026 — The Palo Alto [See TURMOIL, page 22]
Intergalactic IPO for Musk, SpaceX
PEACE DEAL: A U.S.-Iran peace deal has been reached after weeks of military posturing and drone attacks. The deal calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
SBF LOSES APPEAL: Disgraced [See THE UPDATE, page 4]
Malczewski said she wanted to do a search and discuss the contract terms before hiring Austin. “We have a process for a reason. It ensures legitimacy. It wasn’t followed,” she said. But Morgan said the board vetted Austin during a four-month search process that ended with the hiring of Superintendent Jason Glass on June 9, 2025. Glass was picked in Laguna Beach six [See JOB, page 22]
A SPACEX rocket takes off. AP file photo.
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Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after shares of his rocket company SpaceX soared in Wall Street’s biggest initial public offering of stock. Shares in SpaceX jumped more than 19% after opening for trading yesterday, a sign that investors are looking past the billions MUSK the company is losing and instead betting that its massive investments in satellites, orbital data centers and artificial LO S A LT O S E X PE RT I SE .
Nicole Ruccolo
intelligence will pay off in the future. SpaceX opened around midday at $150 a share, then rose to around $168, before finishing the day just below $161. That price gave the company a market value of $2.1 trillion, making it the sixth largest public U.S. company — larger even than its founder and CEO’s other big business, the electric vehicle maker Tesla. Between his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, where he is also CEO, Musk is now worth an estimated $1.1 trillion, according [See SPACEX, page 23]
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