Local GOP suing school district
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee is taking legal action against the Coeur d’Alene School District over allegations of political viewpoint discrimination and inequitably applying electioneering laws.
The group is citing at least one alleged incident on Election Day, with Hayden Meadows Elementary in Hayden as one of the flashpoints that sparked the lawsuit.
Attorney Jeremy Ray Morris released a statement framing the case.
“The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) and some of its elected members are taking the Coeur d’Alene School District to court over what they see as partisan scale-tipping meant to influence the outcome of voting at polling places set up at schools across Kootenai County,” the statement said.
Morris said Republicans distributing fliers more than 100 feet from polling places and school property were forcibly removed by law enforcement at the request of the Coeur d’Alene School District.
In an interview with the Coeur d’Alene Press, Morris identified Hayden Meadows as the school in question but added he believes the Nov. 3 incident was not the only time the district tried to impart favoritism, calling it “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
"They crafted a policy specific to this election to hurt Republicans,” Morris told The Press, “a policy that clearly does not apply to races or bonds or issues near and dear to left-wing activists at the Coeur d’Alene School District.”
Morris described his allegation that Republicans were removed from the Hayden Meadows grounds as the latest in a line of instances designed to promote a liberal agenda. He pointed to last week, when he said the traditional distribution of the United States Constitution to high school seniors was canceled due to claims over the coronavirus. He also referenced last year, when one school put on a Kwanza program before the winter break.
“In 2019, (the district) allowed a Kwanza ‘holiday program’ in which children recited the seven principles of Marxism in Swahili,” Morris alleged.
Morris said he and the KCRCC view the events as part of a pattern they want exposed.
“For some reason, in the reddest county in probably the reddest state in the United States, the general public does not know these very partisan officials who control the education of our children are applying a far-left activist agenda,” he said.
Morris said the KCRCC and some of its individual members believe the district is not applying electioneering laws equitably, adding that the statute clearly states the district cannot be ejecting people more than 100 feet away from buildings housing polling stations.
“We’re really looking forward to discovery,” Morris said, “because we would like to know what kinds of conversations the Coeur d’Alene School District has been having, for example, with the teachers union, the people involved with left-wing organizations. We’ll be looking for notes, emails and other messages to show the district put their toe or even left leg on the scale of political issues that involve this community.”
Scott Maben, the school district's director of communications, released a statement flatly denying the KCRCC's claims.
“The Coeur d'Alene School District denies the claims in the recent complaint asserting that the District violated the rights of anyone in connection with the recent election. The District does not allow any political campaigning on school property, regardless of whether campaigning involves candidates, bond levies or other issues. Legal counsel are reviewing the matter and will timely respond.”
