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The Texas Attorney General’s office has received a complaint of electioneering against the Judson Independent School District.
At issue is a video on the district’s tax-rate election known as a VATRE, or Voter-Approval Tax-Rate Election.
On Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Lauren McGee sent a letter to Judson’s superintendent and board president warning them that the state agency had found merit in the complaint.
“Based on our preliminary investigation, the Office of the Attorney General has reason to believe the District is engaging in electioneering in favor of the VATRE. Specifically, the District engaged in electioneering by using school resources to publish the ‘VATRE presentation video,’” McGee said in the letter.
“The video’s narrator advocates for the passage of the VATRE by warning the viewer that, if it fails to pass, the District will have to ‘make difficult decisions.’ By shifting blame to outside sources, and then explicitly stating that without passage, ‘it will be difficult to maintain the current levels of student services . . .’ the narrator promotes the passage of the VATRE.” McGee added.
In the letter, McGee said the AG’s office had received a complaint accusing Judson of showing the video to district employees during business hours. She directed the district to either dispute the accusation or stop showing the video and remove it from YouTube and the district’s website.
In a statement provided by Judson spokesperson Nicole Taguinod, Judson officials said they do not believe they have engaged in electioneering, but have taken the video down “in an effort to avoid protracted time-consuming litigation on the matter.”
“It is not electioneering for a District to create a video that shares factual information about the upcoming VATRE,” the statement said. “As a district, we are required to remain neutral. The content of the video in question was reviewed and approved by legal counsel prior to publishing the video.”
However, Judson officials said they told the AG’s office they would not show the video again.
“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,” the officials said.
The San Antonio Express News first published a copy of the letter from the AG’s office Friday. Texas Public Radio also obtained a copy from Judson ISD.
The Texas Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued seven school districts last year over alleged electioneering in the March primary. All but one of those districts quickly settled.
