(The Lion) — The Saint Joseph School District (SJSD) has been fined by the Missouri Ethics Commission for violating campaign finance rules in a 2024 campaign for a $20 million bond issue.

The news comes as the district prepares a new bond issue for April that’s so large it requires a huge increase in debt service and a property tax hike.

The Lion laid out the evidence for campaign finance violations, known as electioneering, for the 2024 bond issue in May of last year.

Through a Missouri Sunshine law request, the Lion found “multiple district employees used district emails and on-the-clock time to liaise with the committee and work on pro-bond materials – actions that appear to violate Missouri law.”

Subsequently, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into the electioneering charges based on The Lion’s reporting.

In an order dated Feb. 13, 2025, the Ethics Commission agreed there was “probable cause” to believe the violations occurred.

SJSD Superintendent Gabe Edgar also seemingly agreed, signing the commission’s consent order, which offered a reduced fine if the district pays promptly and refrains from further violations of campaign finance laws for a period of two years.

But that might be easier said than done.

The latest finding by the Ethics Commission brings the total number of probable campaign finance violations by SJSD to three since 2009. In addition to the 2009 and 2024 electioneering charges, in 2017 a taxpayer filed a complaint that the district used “taxpayer money to try to pass the largest tax increase in district history.”

Last year, SJSD passed a $20 million bond issue, according to the local ABC News affiliate. One key feature of the 2024 bond issue was that advocates promised it would not increase taxes.

This year, the school district, which has been beset by personnel and financial controversy, has a more ambitious plan.

The board of SJSD has approved a ballot vote for a $157 million bond issue, which will be paid for by a tax increase. That increase will cost homeowners around $228 annually for a $200,000 home, according to numbers provided by Edgar to local News Press Now.

He also admitted that the debt service for the district would rise 220% if the new bond issue is approved.

The SJSD superintendent said that to complete the plans, the district will have to come back to voters in five or six years, asking for another $180-$190 million bond issue, which would also be tied to a tax increase.

“The cost and the reason why we can’t put two on the ballot at the same time, is because our bonding capacity is not large enough,” Edgar said, according to News Press Now. “Right now, you see the cost of what we’re putting on the ballot is $157 million. And, I would anticipate the next time around, you’re looking at five, six years down the road, you’re looking at $180 million, $190 million.”

In the 2024 bond electioneering case, the commission found probable cause that school district officials, including Edgar, used the school email system “during working hours to communicate regarding [campaign] committee activities” in a way that seemed to obviously support the bond’s passage.

Missouri law restricts persons employed by the district from using school district money to support or oppose any ballot measure. That restriction also includes the use of district resources, such as email systems and databases, which would otherwise cost money to replicate.

The commission order went on to impose a $1,000 fee for the violation, which was subsequently reduced if paid within a 45-day period.

Notwithstanding the prompt payment, if the commission believes there’s “probable cause” that SJSD commits further campaign finance violations within the two-year period, the original fine will be reimposed.

The big tax increase ask from the district this year comes amid years of struggles with personnel and financial management issues.

In June of last year, school board member Whitney Lanning pleaded guilty to harassment stemming from an incident following a school board meeting in February. Lanning was caught on video in a tirade aimed at a fellow board member outside of a board meeting that was so profane it cost her two years of probation and her lucrative outside job.

Then in August, SJSD School Board President LaTonya Williams was caught in another profanity-laced tirade, this time on social media. In the post, Williams used the F-word three times, including the suggestion that one social media user “go f**k yourself…. at least 26 times.”

Previously, Edgar was charged with driving while intoxicated in March 2023.

In 2014, the district was rocked by an FBI investigation over allegations of corruption which involved the then-superintendent and over 50 other staff members. The superintendent was subsequently fired.

In 2016, three members of the former staff, including an additional superintendent not involved in the FBI case, were forced to pay back retirement benefits after it was found they inflated their salaries to increase their retirement pay.

Former SJSD Superintendent Dan Colgan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in U.S. district court over the $662,000 scheme that inflated his pay.