Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office stopped several school districts from using taxpayer money to advocate for local ballot propositions that would raise taxes.
“School districts should focus on teaching children reading, writing, and arithmetic instead of unlawfully using taxpayer funds to meddle in elections that will raise taxes even higher,” Paxton said in a statement on Friday.
“ISDs are educational entities, not lobbying firms. Illegal electioneering must come to an end, and any school district engaging in such conduct can expect to hear from my office,” he added.
Paxton’s office said it investigated and sent letters to the Garland, Judson, Liberty Hill, and Northwest Independent School Districts, warning that their actions may have violated state election laws.
Texas law prohibits school boards from using public funds or resources to campaign for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.
The attorney general’s office said the districts used taxpayer resources to encourage voters to support propositions that would increase taxes for their budgets.
After receiving notice from the state, the districts removed the materials and agreed to comply with the law, according to Paxton.
The letters notified the districts that they had violated Texas law over their actions to promote Proposition A, a state-required vote on a measure to maintain operational funding levels and access additional revenue.
In the Judson case, Assistant Attorney General Lauren McGee notified Judson ISD officials that the agency had received a complaint about a “professionally produced video” the district reportedly showed to employees on campus during work hours to promote a property tax rate increase on Tuesday’s ballot, reports The San Antonio Express-News.
Judson ISD Chief Communications Officer Nicole Taguinod said the district decided to remove the video and stop showing it to employees to “avoid protracted time-consuming litigation on the matter.”
“Upon being informed of the district’s voluntary decision, the Attorney General’s Office informed the district on Tuesday evening that the matter would be closed,” she said.
The Proposition A vote passed in the Garland, Liberty Hill, and Northwest districts, but was rejected in Judson, according to local reports.
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