Website flap temporarily resolved

The Ocean View School District has a problem with one of its own trustees’ websites, but an agreement between both sides has postponed the dispute for now.

Officials complained Trustee John Briscoe’s website, www.oceanviewschooldistrict.org, looked too much like the official school board’s website and might confuse viewers.

But a news release this week from the district said he and school board President Debbie Cotton agreed not to clash over the site right now.

“Mr. Briscoe has agreed to take down the website as of [Wednesday] while he seeks an independent legal opinion,” according to the statement. “He has further agreed not to relaunch the site without prior notification being provided to President Cotton.”

The release said “the Board has not yet met to consider or take action regarding this item and no legal action is currently being contemplated,” but that conflicts with an earlier news release that prompted Briscoe to demand an apology.

The district issued an e-mail last week to local reporters saying that school board Trustee John Briscoe’s site illegally uses district logos to look like the official district website.

“The graphic items used on Mr. Briscoe’s site to mimic our site are being used illegally,” according to the e-mail. “We are currently pursuing legal actions to have Mr. Briscoe’s website removed and the domain he purchased, www.oceanviewschooldistrict.org, invalidated.”

Briscoe called that assertion “hurtful and untrue.”

He said his site already had a disclaimer stating the site contained only his opinions, and that after meeting with district lawyers, he changed some “look and feel elements” to appear somewhat less like the district’s. As for his right to operate a website on www.oceanviewschooldistrict.org, he pointed out more than one “Ocean View School District,” and he owns the web address, he said.

“The name of the school district is not Ocean View School District, people,” Briscoe said. “It’s Ocean View School District of Orange County. There is an Ocean View School District of Ventura County.”

If the district wants to insist it has the right to the site because of its name, he said he insists district legal documents all be rewritten to add “of Orange County” to the district’s name.