Oakland sues school district for ‘refusing to pay’ over $1.5 million
OAKLAND ( KRON ) — The city of Oakland is suing its own school district, alleging the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is "refusing to pay" at least $1.5 million in election-related costs, a lawsuit filed by Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker on Friday states.
Parker claims her office has been attempting to work in "good faith" with OUSD for "over a year" but filed the lawsuit due to OUSD's "refusal to acknowledge its basic legal responsibility."
According to Parker, the most recent 2023 election — held to fill the OUSD District 5 vacancy — cost upwards of $600,000 alone. Parker says these elections cost so much because "the OUSD Board of Education did not appoint a provisional board member and instead chose to proceed by special election."
Parker claims the Oakland City Council "had no role" in calling the District 5 elections and that "there is no basis" for the city to be responsible for covering those costs.
"The law is clear that OUSD is responsible for paying the costs of the 2023 special election that it called to fill a vacancy on the OUSD Board, and for paying its fair share of other election costs," Parker said.
Despite California law stating "school districts must pay their share of election costs for school board offices and other ballot measures," the complaint alleges OUSD refused to pay for its proportionate share of election costs for recent school board director elections in 2022 and 2020.
Parker's office estimates OUSD is responsible for paying approximately $860,700 for the 2022 elections and about $679,000 for 2020.
The City always strives to resolve issues without resorting to litigation. Unfortunately, after nearly a year of attempting to work in good faith with OUSD to resolve this dispute, OUSD has remained steadfast in its refusal to acknowledge its basic legal responsibility. Accordingly, seeking relief in court is the City's only option to recover the money OUSD indisputably owes and to ensure it will pay its fair share of election costs going forward,"
Oakland CIty Attorney Barbara J. ParkerKRON4 has contacted OUSD for comment, but the school district said they do not comment on pending litigation.
