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.”
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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.