CALABASAS : Use of Funds for Ballot Fight Barred

A judge Tuesday barred the Las Virgenes Unified School District from using district resources to oppose a controversial ballot proposal that would use tax dollars to help parents send their children to private schools.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien issued the preliminary injunction pending trial of a lawsuit filed earlier this month that accuses the Calabasas-based district of unlawfully using personnel and office equipment to distribute a flyer decrying the proposed initiative.

The injunction effectively continues a temporary restraining order handed down by O’Brien two weeks ago.

“The judge is applying what we consider to be settled principles of law . . . to prevent public funds and public resources to be used in a partisan political way,” said Manuel Klausner, attorney for the Excellence through Choice in Education League, sponsor of the proposed choice initiative.

The district’s lawyers contended that the flyer was compiled by an independent parent group at Lindero Canyon Middle School and that the group paid the district for use of its photocopy machines and mailing labels.