Moorhead residents question campaign mailer “prepared and paid for” by school district
UPDATE: Moorhead Area Schools sent an email to parents today disavowing any connection to the political direct mailer that was sent under their name. They also placed a pop-up message on their website urging voters to disregard the mailer.
Although the mailer uses Moorhead Area Schools as the sender, the address is 607 Third St. N.E. in Dilworth, Minnesota. A quick check of property tax records indicates that address belongs to Chad Olson, a social studies teacher in the Moorhead School District. Olson also happens to be the Mayor of Dilworth. Did he send the postcard out and use the district’s name? If he did he should be fired.
Here is the message from Moorhead Schools to parents:
MOORHEAD AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS CLARIFIES FRAUDULENT ENDORSEMENT MAILER IN SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION
Moorhead Area Public Schools
October 18, 2024
It has come to the attention of Moorhead Area Public Schools that a direct mail piece endorsing two candidates for the upcoming school board election was recently sent to members of the Moorhead community. This mailer falsely claims to be from the district. The district wants to make it clear that we had no involvement in the creation, approval or distribution of this mailer.
As a neutral public entity, Moorhead Area Public Schools does not endorse or support any candidate running for the school board. This is a deeply troubling situation, and we are currently exploring legal and law enforcement options to identify and hold accountable those responsible for this fraudulent activity.
We encourage all members of the community to disregard this mailer. It does not reflect the district’s views, and its contents were neither authorized nor sanctioned by the school district.
Moorhead Area Public Schools is committed to ensuring that each community member can freely make their voice heard at the polls, without interference or deception. The district remains committed to transparency, fairness and upholding the highest ethical standards during this election process. The district will continue to work closely with authorities to resolve this matter.
It’s too bad the district didn’t name the teachers’ union as the party behind the mailer. Stay tuned – this is an evolving story.
Original Post:
A concerned voter in Moorhead alerted us to a campaign mailer sent to voters with a return address and disclaimer belonging to the Moorhead School District. This would be a huge violation of the law prohibiting the use of school district resources to engage in direct political activity.
The mailer in question urges voters to support two candidates running for school board who happen to be endorsed by the local teachers’ union. The return address says, “Moorhead Area Public Schools” and the disclaimer says, “Prepared and paid for by Moorhead Area Public Schools.”
The mailer resembles other pieces sent by local teachers’ unions around the state. There are two possibilities for how this happened.
One, the school district is colluding with the teachers’ union to get their preferred candidates to win the November election. This is what a reasonable voter would conclude after receiving this campaign piece in their mailbox.
Two (the more likely scenario), the teachers’ union used the district’s name to make it seem like their candidates are supported by the school district. In other words, the union is cheating.
This would not be the first time the Minnesota teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, has been caught cheating in school board elections. With the rise of the parent movement in recent years (exemplified by the success of the Minnesota Parents Alliance), the union has been desperately pushing the envelope more and more.
Assuming they did not send this mailer, the Moorhead School District needs to act immediately to distance themselves from this act, and they need to do it in a manner loud enough so that everyone who saw the original piece knows it is not legitimate. Further, if there were union teacher employees of the district found responsible for this, they should be fired for cause.
The ball is in your court Moorhead Schools. How will you respond?