Santa Monica-Malibu District : Board Bans Politicking by Employees at Schools

On the heels of last week’s election, the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education has approved a policy prohibiting teachers and other district employees from using school time, materials and students to work on political campaigns.

Santa Monica-Malibu Supt. Eugene Tucker said the board unanimously approved the measure Monday night to establish a clear policy on what the district regards as appropriate political activity for employees during school hours.

The new policy stems from an October memo in which Tucker ordered district employees not to use school time or resources to sway voters in last week’s election in favor of local school board candidates or for Proposition TT, a measure on the ballot to extend for five years an annual tax of $58 on each parcel of land in the district.

Tucker said that his executive order did not apply to employees on their own time or to the unions, which voted to support the incumbents and the proposition. The proposition was approved overwhelmingly and all three incumbents--Connie Jenkins, Mary Kay Kamath and Peggy Lyons--were reelected.

‘Routine Evaluation’

Tucker said he proposed the new policy on political activities as “part of a routine evaluation of all district policies.”

In addition to the political restrictions adopted Monday night, the board approved guidelines on reporting child-abuse cases to child protective agencies. The board also approved guidelines for leasing of school properties to churches and other nonprofit groups.

Tucker said that the policy limiting political campaigning draws a distinction between encouraging students to become involved in the electoral process and encouraging them to support a particular candidate or cause.

“We want students to be encouraged to get involved,” he said, “but they should not be encouraged to get involved in a partisan cause such as supporting one candidate over another or one issue over another.”

Extra Credit

Tucker said he supports the idea of teachers giving extra credit to students who are involved in their communities. However, he was critical of a practice, once common in the district, of giving students time off from class to assist at the polls and pass out handbills on election day.

The policy states that the board “recognizes that balanced, objective discussion of political candidates and the presentation of political issues is an appropriate educational activity. However, employees . . . may not use pupils, district time, material, equipment or facilities for the purpose of advocating a particular candidate or issue.”

In supporting the measure, Kamath said the board “simply did not want anyone projecting one view over another.”

School board member Della Barrett cited the example supplied by one parent who had attended a back-to-school night and saw a poster on a teacher’s wall showing President Reagan with the words “Contra” and “Diction” printed at the top and bottom.

“I thought that would be a little hard (to deal with), especially since this is an election year,” she said, adding that she might have felt differently had the room included posters poking fun at other candidates.