Two school principals in Denton, Texas were indicted on criminal charges for improperly using school email systems to advocate for specific political candidates.
Lindsay and Jesús Luján, principals at Alexander Elementary and Borman Elementary respectively, sent emails to staff urging them to vote against Republican candidates who supported school choice initiatives.
“It is absolutely improper for publicly funded entities like school districts to engage in electioneering as Denton ISD has done,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.
Two @DentonISD admins, Jesus and Lindsay Lujan, were charged April 2 with unlawful use of internal mail system for political advertising—a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine ➡️ https://t.co/NtihNLd9Fh #TxEd #TXLege #DontDoTheCrime
— Erin Anderson (@TrueTexasTea) April 4, 2024
“Government officials everywhere are on notice that I will use every legal remedy available to me to stop school districts from influencing or coercing their employees to vote any particular way, especially when a district uses taxpayer resources and money to do so.”
Lindsay Luján also promised early dismissal to vote and labeled candidates as “friendly” or “unfriendly” to public schools.
Jesús Luján told staff to have a “purple mindset” and vote for candidates backing public education funding.
They had previously faced a lawsuit from the Texas Attorney General, which the school district settled by agreeing election laws should be followed.
“Denton ISD and the Texas Attorney General’s Office previously settled this case on Friday, March 1. As stated previously, we agree that election laws should be followed,” the school system said in a statement, KERA stated.
However, the incident triggered a criminal investigation as their actions violated state election codes prohibiting the use of public resources to influence elections.
“Our Board of School Trustees adopted board policies in 2018 and 2021 regarding elections and campaign ethics, and we train all Trustees and Administrators on these policies annually. It is our expectation that these policies be followed,” the statement read.
