Four CCISD trustees, superintendent donate to local PAC

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

Four of the seven Copperas Cove Independent School District board of trustees, along with the CCISD superintendent, have made personal financial contributions to a local political action committee, CCISD Students First.

This is per the PAC’s April 26 campaign finance report.

The PAC, created after the board of trustees voted in February to hold a $175 million bond election on May 4, has received a total of $26,900 in financial contributions.

So far, the PAC has spent $9,425.54 of its contributions and has $17,474.46 remaining as of the time of the report filing.

CCISD Trustee Vice President Inez Faison, is also the treasurer of the PAC and “loaned” the PAC $250, per the April 26 report.

Other trustees who have donated personal funds include board president Joan Manning ($500), board secretary Mike Wilburn ($300), and Heather Copeland ($300). CCISD Superintendent Joseph Burns has contributed $1,000 to the PAC.

The Leader-Press has contacted the Texas Association of School Boards for that entity’s input as to whether school board members are allowed to donate personal funds to political organizations.

TASB provided a response in the form of a document regarding elections.

In short, Texas Election Code prohibits school boards from authorizing or spending public funds for political advertising.

Advertising includes print news or other periodicals, circulars, fliers, signs or other forms of written communication, and websites or television.

Likewise, board members cannot use district resources such as district email accounts to advocate in favor of a candidate or ballot measure.

While four members of a school board would constitute a “quorum” in a meeting, this report lists individual contributions.

The code doesn’t state that individuals are prohibited from making personal contributions, such as to a political action committee.

In addition to these individuals who are part of CCISD leadership, several Copperas Cove area businesses and individuals have likewise made contributions to the PAC, to include:

• Copperas Cove Crusaders ($500). The Copperas Cove Crusaders is a youth basketball organization which has been listed as an AAU (nonprofit) organization. Faison is named as the Crusaders’ Director of Business Operations on the CCISD board of trustees webpage.
• Cove Meadows Management Corporation ($4,000). This organization is a registered Domestic Nonprofit Corporation, which is DBA Clear Creek Meadows Apartments, is also associated with Faison.
• Camera Artistry Photography ($100).
• Jimmy Clark Homes ($500)
• Donlie McMullin ($200)
• Sharon Tabor ($500)

Several Waco-area businesses have donated to the PAC. These companies have previously worked on construction and systems projects for the district.

These include:

• Honey’s Roofing ($5,000). Honey’s Roofing has previously been the contractor for a number of CCISD campus and facility roofing projects.
• RBDR, PLLC ($5,000). RBDR worked with the CCISD facility planning committee and has prepared the renderings of the proposed changes to the facilities, to include the CCHS addition, new cafeteria, fields, campus map, and more. RBDR designs facilities for school districts, among their projects. It is not known at this time how much RBDR was paid for these services, as this is not a PAC expense but would be a District/committee expense.
• RaBroker Air Conditioning ($5,000).

Advertising dollars spent outside Copperas Cove

The only local business that has received funds for pro-bond advertising so far is The Billboard, in the amount of $800.

All other pro-bond advertising was spent with companies in Austin, Tyler, TX, and as far away as Clinton, Mississippi.

Copperas Cove voters may have received phone calls from a Mississippi-based company, Chism Strategies, which was paid $3,398.73 for its services.

Austin-based Thomas Graphics, Inc., was paid a total of $2,543.17 for direct mailers that were sent out as of the date of the report.

Faison has faced scrutiny over initially using the Copperas Cove Housing Authority address on push cards which were mailed out to voters. Faison is the executive director of the housing authority and per other media reports, said the initial use of that address was a “mistake.” Cove Meadows Management, LLC, also bears the housing authority’s address on its records, 701 Casa Circle in Copperas Cove.

What constitutes electioneering?

In addition to the CCISD Students First PAC, Copperas Cove ISD itself has faced some scrutiny regarding the information it has released related to the bond.

Per state law, it is illegal for school districts and their employees to use district resources – employee/staff time, district money, and even district email accounts – to advocate in favor of a political candidate, or in this case, a bond election.

In February and March of this year, Aledo, Castleberry, Denison, Denton, Frisco, Huffman, and Hutto ISDs and their representatives have had injunctions and/or restraining orders issued from the Texas Attorney General’s office regarding illegal electioneering. Individuals face fines for those actions.

Examples included that during a school meeting at Hargrave High School, the Huffman ISD Superintendent instructed faculty to vote for 16 specific politicians who supported certain policies.

“Additionally, when school staff asked for a list of those endorsed politicians they had been told to vote for, the superintendent said that a Huffman ISD administrator would distribute it. Aledo ISD officials also used school resources to promote certain political policies and measures.”

“On February 22, Attorney General Paxton sued Denton ISD after a school principal used an official email to encourage all staff members to vote against specific candidates who supported policies she disagreed with. The use of government resources to circulate voting guidelines to other public employees directly violated Texas’s prohibition against the use of ‘state or local funds or other resources of the district to electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.’”

Information from the Texas Association of School Boards stated that the Texas Ethics Commission is responsible for enforcing the Texas Election Code where it concerns campaigning and political advertising.

“TEC is authorized to initiate civil enforcement actions in response to a sworn complaint, hold enforcement hearings, issue orders, impose civil penalties, and refer matters for criminal prosecution. In addition, the TEC board may vote to issue an ethics advisory opinion in response to a written request that satisfies legal requirements.”

The Leader-Press contacted the TEC to confirm if there have been any formal complaints filed in connection with the school district or the PAC – two separate entities – but has not received a response.

According to TEC documentation, the TEC does not respond to verifications of complaints until complaints are investigated and its investigations are concluded.

The TEC’s documentation stated that the “proper way to the inform the public of these violations is to describe the facts of the violation or the actual findings of the Commission after the conclusion of an investigation.”

“By law, the Texas Ethics Commission investigates every sworn complaint, whether it has merit or not. Likewise, any citizen of the State of Texas has the right to file a sworn complaint, whether it has merit or not. The fact that a complaint has been filed or the Commission is investigating provides no meaningful information to the voting public. Anyone can file a complaint and the Commission must investigate the complaints it receives.”

All sworn complaint orders for 2024 can be found on the TEC website at https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/enforcement/sworn_complaints/orders/issued/index.php#2024. 

The Texas Association of School Boards likewise provides cautionary information to school district leadership regarding electioneering and the information it releases concerning details of bond election measures.

CCISD has released a number of videos providing bond information. The videos depict students in class and playing sports, and the videos also contain interviews with teachers, coaches, and administration.

TASB’s stance on using photos and videos of students in district election information releases is that it is not a recommended practice – and districts wishing to use photos and videos of its students in campaign messages must consult with the district legal counsel.

“On written request by a school district with a measure on a ballot, TEC will prepare an advance written advisory opinion addressing whether proposed school district communications would comply with the law. Tex. Elec. Code § 255.003(e).”

However, according to TASB, the opinion of a school district’s attorney is not a legal opinion that creates an affirmative defense, in the event a district or a district official is prosecuted for a campaign violation.

Early voting for the May 4 election ends Tuesday, April 30.