Some recent activities at Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD) have the District in hot water, crossing the boundaries between official business and political action.
First and most egregious was a mass mailer released by the district extolling the virtues of the work the district is doing, while also highlighting all five members of the OUSD Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, under FPPC rules, mass mailings which meet four specific criteria are strictly prohibited. Those criteria are:
1. Tangible delivery, such as a piece of mail
2. The delivered item features an Elected Officer
3. Public money is spent
4. More than 200 such pieces are mailed.
From the markings on the photo, it is clear that this mailer has met all four criteria, and is at the very least an FPPC violation, plus fraud, waste, and abuse of public funds.
Furthermore, Trustee member Eleanor Evans who is being challenged by Emily Wichman for the Area 2 seat has formally declared on her campaign literature that she is “Endorsed by the Oceanside Unified School Board.” This is a clear violation of state law Gov. Code, § 3207 which states that government officials in their official authority may not participate in conversations about campaign issues and/or candidates during any paid County time. In other words, employees covered by the Hatch Act may not use their job titles in partisan political endorsements. So either the OUSD school board has violated this statute, or Ms. Evans has lied on her campaign literature.
Finally, on the OUSD official Facebook page, Ms. Evans was photographed wearing campaign material in support of her own campaign, which is a violation of Gov. Code, § 3201 regarding use their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.
OUSD seems to have completely lost sight of its purpose, which is to produce educated children ready for the next step in their lives. These hyper-partisan activities are clear indications that new leadership may be needed on a Board that is currently focused on the consolidation of political power.
