Teachers’ Union Says Board Member Must Vacate Anderson Union High School District Seat

A powerful teachers’ union has issued a cease-and-desist letter to local politician Jackie LaBarbera, who currently sits on the boards of both the Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE) and the Anderson Union High School District (AUHSD).

The missive comes from the California Teacher’s Association (CTA), the largest state affiliate of the largest labor union in the United States. 

Signed by CTA Staff Attorney Theresa Witherspoon, the letter alleges that LaBarbera is holding two elected offices which are incompatible, and issues a demand that she leave her position on the AUHSD board in order to comply with Government Code section 1099.

California law allows elected officials to hold more than one elected role in office but only if the two seats do not overlap each other in ways that could negatively affect those they represent. LaBarbera has been a member of AUHSD’s Board of Trustees since 2023. She was elected to SCOE’s Board in late 2024 and has maintained both seats since being sworn in at SCOE.

While LaBarbera has said she believes holding both seats is legal, she has not responded to Shasta Scout‘s question asking whether she has sought advice from AUHSD’s legal counsel or the California Attorney General’s Office to determine if holding the dual seats complies with California law.

California’s law on incompatible seats in office exists in order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and guard against endangering public representation. As Witherspoon emphasizes in her letter, “the public and each of the entities in which you hold office have an interest in the undivided loyalty of their elected officials.” 

In other words, the law recognizes that there are those that LaBarbera represents within SCOE’s voter area that may not be well served by her role at AUHSD, in which she represents a somewhat different group of constituents. In that vein, CTA’s letter includes a “non-exhaustive” list of the ways that LaBarbera’s simultaneous positions allegedly represent a conflict.

“Only one significant clash of loyalties is required to make public offices incompatible” Witherspoon wrote. “The ways in which your positions on the AUHSD board and SCBOE are (in conflict are) so numerous that the incompatible nature should be self-apparent”, she continued. “However, to make this clear for you, I will identify just a few.”

Among those examples Witherspoon notes SCOE’s ongoing role in qualifying AUHSD’s annual budgets as well as various contracts between the two agencies, like the one LaBarbera voted to terminate during AUHSD’s last meeting.

Witherspoon also documented relevant precedent, including a situation where an individual held dual seats as a board member of both an elementary and high school whose geographic districts overlapped, and another individual who held dual roles as a board member of a Community College District and County Office of Education, both of which were located within the same county. 

When a person assumes a new office that is incompatible with an elected office they already hold, California law requires them to forfeit the first. Refusal to do so, Witherspoon wrote, can be met with Section 803 of the Code of Civil Procedure, an action that can be brought by the Attorney General against “any person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises any public office.” 

Should Labarbera decide not to vacate her AUHSD office voluntarily, the CTA says, the organization plans to file paperwork with the Attorney General’s office. That filing must include a verified complaint and statement of facts and provide notice to LaBarbera giving her at least 15 days to respond. 

The AG’s office would then review the case and issue a determination on whether there is a right for the CTA or others to file a quo warranto action, a process which makes it the court’s responsibility to decide who is the rightful holder of the office in question. Should the courts rule against LaBarbera, she would be forced her to leave her AUHSD role and could face a fine of up to $5,000.

In response to a request for comment on CTA’s cease-and-desist letter, LaBarbera wrote “it is clear Shasta Scout has an agenda concerning AUHSD other than truth. I have no comment at this time.” AUHSD Superintendent Brian Parker also declined to comment, citing the District’s policy on pending litigation. 

SCOE Superintendent Mike Freeman responded by pointing out that CTA’s demand for LaBarbera to step down from AUHSD is a matter for AUHSD, not SCOE, to solve. In a brief emailed comment Freeman also emphasized SCOE’s intention to continue to work alongside LaBarbera in a cooperative manner. 

“The Shasta County Office of Education has welcomed Trustee LaBarbera,” Freeman wrote, “and we look forward to continuing working with her… to drive the work of accomplishing SCOE’s mission.” 

While LaBarbera was sworn in to her seat at SCOE in January, the issue of a potential clash of duties or loyalties in her two school boards did not come to a head until AUHSD’s February 25 meeting. That’s when LaBarbera participated in a vote to terminate a SCOE grant that provided on-campus resources to underserved students at Anderson Union High School. LaBarbera also voted that night on a second, less controversial SCOE contract, related to bussing services.

Although LaBarbera has said in the past that she’s willing to recuse from specific votes where necessary, Witherspoon wrote in her letter that “the ability to recuse oneself on a case by case basis is insufficient to overcome” the inherent problem posed by incompatible seats.

3.10.25 5:16 pm: We have updated the story to include a link to the CTA’s letter.

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