Santa Ana Unified School District attorney Bill Shaeffer, who filed a brief on behalf of the district, agreed that the ruling also applies to initiative petitions.
But he said it clashes with rulings in the 10th and 11th U.S. Circuit courts of appeal, where judges ruled the opposite on the same issue.
"You have a clear conflict that's going to have to be resolved either [by the entire 9th Circuit] or by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court," said Shaeffer.