STOW, OHIO—October 29, 2010– The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education filed a complaint at the Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) regarding the Stow “idiocracy” group’s false statements in its campaign materials against the school District’s renewal levy. The renewal levy will be decided by voters at the November 2, 2010 general election.
The Commission found probable cause yesterday that the Stow “idiocracy” group made three false statements involving: the District’s fiscal forecast accuracy, the Treasurer's recognition and awards, and the Superintendent's involvement with the District's “Excellent” academic rating. The OEC found there is probable cause that the anti-levy committee, Stow Citizens for Responsible Government (SCRG), commonly known as “Stow Idiocracy”, made false and misleading statements, either knowing the statements to be false or with reckless disregard of the truth.
The OEC panel was comprised of three Commission members, including a Democratic, Republican and Independent. The OEC has jurisdiction to impose penalties and refer matters for prosecution for election and campaign law violations. The OEC will set the matter for a hearing before the full Commission and the “idiocracy” group could be referred to the County Prosecutor for criminal prosecution or issued a public reprimand.
This marks the second episode during a general election when the group was found to have made false statements, or continues to intentionally misrepresent the truth. The SCRG previously stipulated—agreed to the violation—of making three false statements regarding the school District in March 2010.
“The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education takes our responsibility very seriously,” said Karen Wright, Board president. “We work hard to communicate truthful and accurate information about our District's operations to the Stow-Munroe Falls citizens. This Board will not tolerate reckless disregard for the truth. With the state law and through the Ohio Elections Commission process, we will continue to make every effort to correct all deliberately false and misleading statements regarding our school District. We are an Excellent District, our concern is with the academic achievement of our students, therefore, we cannot let these deliberate falsehoods damage our Excellent system or the ability to educate our Stow-Munroe Falls students.”
The Stow-Munroe Falls City School District is rated Excellent by the Ohio Department of Education, an honor held by 215 districts out of 613 statewide. For more information, visit www.smfschools.org, follow updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/smfschools or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/st_jones4.
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Media Contact: Jacquie Mazziotta, 330.592.3370/st_mazziotta@smfcsd.org
