Tax dollars Pay for Defense Attorney
Letter to the editor

The Capo school district just hired a top-gun criminal defense attorney to advise its employees regarding their grand jury subpoenas (Aug. 16 OC Register). The trustees have been saying the district wants to cooperate fully, and I'm wondering why their cooperation requires the best legal advice our tax dollars can buy.

I don't believe taxes going to a school district should be used to defend criminal acts. From what I'm reading in the paper, the district attorney is gathering evidence of felonies. The allegations are serious, and the grand jury doesn't appear to be on a fishing expedition.

I attended the CUSD school board meeting on Aug. 14, and the trustees' defense strategy seems to be pitting the employees against the parents. The allegations are not about teachers or education. Parents are asking what happened to all the money that was supposed to go toward education, including keeping facilities maintained and modernized.

If the district had maintained a policy of answering questions from the beginning, maybe it wouldn't have come to this.

Connie Lee
Mission Viejo