Michigan’s Secretary of State has ruled that the Traverse City Area Public Schools has likely violated campaign finance laws as alleged by Jason Gillman in a complaint filed late last year. Gillman had lodged a complaint that the school district’s mailer sent to homes in the district advocated on behalf of the $100 million bond proposal on the ballot (the ballot measure failed). The Secretary of State agreed, and ruled that there may be reason to believe that a violation of Section 57 of the Campaign Finance Act did occur.

TCAPS Superintendent Steve Cousins commented, “The district did not intend to violate the Act or mislead the public. As superintendent, I take full responsibility for the issue. On behalf of the district and the Board of Education, I apologize to Mr. Gillman, our parents, staff and community for any confusion the mailer may have caused. We value the trust our community places in TCAPS and we will work with the Secretary of State to resolve this in a manner that will prevent it from occurring again.”