The city of Oakland, California, is suing the Oakland school district, alleging that it refused to pay more than $2 million in election-related costs, officials said Friday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that city officials contend that the district has failed to pay an outstanding invoice of nearly $600,000 for the 2023 special election that was held to fill a school board vacancy. Officials also said the district owed an additional $860,700 for general election costs in 2022 and $679,000 for the 2020 general election.
The city said in the statement that the 2023 special election happened because the school board failed to name a provisional replacement for the vacancy.
"The Oakland City Council had no role in calling the 2023 special election, and there is no basis for the city of Oakland to be responsible for covering those costs," the city said.
School Board President Sam Davis said he hopes the city will "abandon" the lawsuit. He said the district wasn't responsible for the costs because it didn't request the special election in 2023 and since the 2020 and 2022 elections were called in compliance with the city's charter, and not by the district.
"Our business as a district is running schools, not elections," Davis said.
