An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 18 – Political Activity

1. C ANDIDATE F ORUMS A ND D EBATES A non-profit organization may sponsor a debate between candidates for an office if all the following criteria are met:  all qualified candidates are invited;  the questions are prepared by an independent panel;  a broad range of topics is covered;

 each candidate has an equal opportunity to present his or her views, and;  the moderator is a neutral party who states at the beginning and end of the debate that the views expressed are not those of the organization. 2450

Business activity can be considered prohibited electioneering. Schools should be careful about selling or renting mailing lists, leasing office space, or accepting paid political advertising on behalf of any candidate. Certain activities are permissible only if done in the school’s ordinary and customary manner.

LCW Practice Advisor

2. G ET O UT T HE V OTE /V OTER R EGISTRATION If a voter registration drive is operated in a non-partisan manner, with no evidence of bias for or against any party, then a charitable organization may operate such a drive. 2451 It is permissible to have target audiences made up of broad groups selected on a nonpartisan basis, but an organization is not allowed to target groups based on known party or issue affiliations. 2452 3. S PEAKING E NGAGEMENTS A school may have a pre-existing relationship with a candidate for office. For example, the parent of a current student may become a candidate for public office while the child is enrolled at the school. If this occurs, the school needs to be careful about its interactions with this parent. If the parent had been invited to speak at a school event for reasons not related to the political campaign, such as his or her professional expertise or personal experience, the parent’s candidacy does not mean the speech must be cancelled. However, the school must be careful that the parent’s appearance does not in any way refer to or relate to his or her candidacy or the election. The school cannot mention the speaker’s candidacy, the event must be non-partisan with no accompanying campaign activity, and the school should make clear the capacity in which the speaker is appearing. 2453 LCW Practice Advisor

If the Head of School, other employee, or board member, wants to support a candidate, he or she must make sure to do so only in his or her individual capacity and not as a representative of the school. 2454 Sending a letter on school letterhead, for example, where the Head of School refers to a

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 596