Explain but don't advocate

Principals working in Coeur d’Alene public schools are being advised by their employer that they should never advocate for the school district’s upcoming levy, not even outside work hours.

That’s not sitting well with some principals, who believe it infringes on their First Amendment right to free speech.

“I thought, wait. What? I’m not allowed to, on my own time, work on the campaign?” said Deanne Clifford, principal of Coeur d’Alene’s Lake City High School.

The school district administration’s advice is in response to a state law that went into effect July 1. The Public Integrity in Elections Act, passed by lawmakers in 2018, bars public funds, resources or property from being used to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot measure.

The new law allows public entities and officials to educate and inform the public about levies and bonds being presented for election, but bans the use of public resources for electioneering.

Coeur d’Alene principals were told by the school district’s administration that because salaried administrators like the superintendent, department directors and principals have no set hours, they are viewed as representing the school district at all times, and under the new law they should not engage in levy advocacy at any time.

Clifford said she has put many hours of her own time into supporting previous levy and bond campaigns.

“I think it’s my constitutional right to do this,” she said.

Coeur d’Alene principals were provided the information during a recent levy presentation given by the school district’s communications director, Scott Maben, Clifford said.

“It was explained to me that I cannot strip the title from myself as administrator any time, day or night. Any time I am seen, I am viewed as a representative of the school district,” she said. “So I can’t have a beer on my back porch on a Saturday and discuss how important it is that we pass the levy?”

Nick Lilyquist, the principal at Canfield Middle School, also takes issue with the advisement to refrain from openly supporting the levy outside work hours.

“I think it’s my right to advocate on my own time,” Lilyquist said.

The school district is asking voters to approve a two-year levy for $20 million per year. The levy election will be March 12.

Successful passage of a supplemental levy in Idaho provides a school district with additional local tax dollars, in addition to state funding, to support school district maintenance and operations.

“I can tell you that our staff is very careful not to advocate during work time or on district property, and we are visiting every school to go over the rules and expectations once again during staff meetings,” Maben said.

The school district administration is advising salaried administrators to always steer clear of promoting the levy based on guidance from the Idaho School Boards Association, Maben said. The ISBA, based in Boise, is a membership organization supporting school boards throughout the state. It provides public policy advocacy, board training and other services.

Coeur d’Alene School District’s legal counsel, Megan O’Dowd with the downtown firm of Lyons O’Dowd, agrees with the ISBA guidance, Maben said.

“As we understand that interpretation of the law, it is more difficult for administrators to separate their official positions from their person,” Maben said. “A community member will see the superintendent or their student’s principal out in public and regard them in their official capacity, whether they are working or not.”

Maben said they have not asked their legal counsel to examine the possible First Amendment implications of the new law.

“We would never expect any employee to feel that by accepting a job with the school district that they surrender their First Amendment right to free speech on their own time,” said Superintendent Steve Cook.

Maben said that based on the legal advice they have been given, the district administration is sharing with its staff that salaried administrators should refrain from actively participating in any levy or bond advocacy work, aside from sharing factual information about the proposal on the ballot.

Rep. Jason Monks, R-Nampa, the lead sponsor of the 2018 legislation, told The Press in a phone interview Thursday that he thinks this is a misinterpretation of the law.

Monks, who worked with the ISBA in creating the legislation, said it was carefully worded to avoid affecting anyone’s right to free speech.

“We intentionally said we’re not prohibiting them from doing anything, as long as they don’t use public resources to do it,” Monks said.

The law has an exclusion stating “nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a public official or employee from speaking, campaigning, contributing personal money or otherwise exercising the public official’s or employee’s individual first amendment rights for political purposes, provided no public funds are used for expenditures supporting the public official or employee in such activity.”

Monks said he thinks it’s a stretch of the law to say salaried employees cannot advocate for or against ballot issues on their own time.

“That means this would prohibit me from campaigning for myself at any time,” Monks said.

He noted that as a state legislator, he’s a salaried employee.

School officials in Kootenai County’s second-largest school district also have a different take on how the law affects district employees.

“I don’t know that I agree with that interpretation of the new law. However, we never engage in yes campaigning. We just provide information and encourage voting,” said Jerry Keane, Post Falls School District superintendent. “There is no way we can restrict staff members from expressing their opinion, for example on Facebook, after their regular work day.”

Karen Echeverria, executive director of the ISBA, said it’s up to each school district to decide how to advise their employees about advocating for levies.

The line between educating and advocating isn’t always clear, Echeverria told The Press, and when administrators advocate for levies, there is the risk of a lawsuit.

“And the district has to decide if that’s a risk they want to take,” Echeverria said.

Deanne Clifford said that while she recognizes Coeur d’Alene School District administrators are likely just trying to follow the guidance of their attorneys and the ISBA, she has another concern about the situation.

“We’re that much closer to doing this to teachers who are viewed as associated and representative of the school district,” she said.

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Maureen Dolan can be reached by email at mdolan@cdapress.com or on Twitter: @maureencdapress.