EVERETT, Wash. – Students on the Cascade High School cross country team thought they were going to practice last Wednesday, but were instead recruited to canvass neighborhoods for a teacher running for the state legislative.

Mike Wilson talking with students.

The Everett School District is investigating what spokeswoman Mary Waggoner referred to as “an abuse of influence of students” after several cross country students reported coaches at Cascade and Jackson high schools asked them to knock on doors for long-time Cascade teacher Mike Wilson, a Democrat, KIRO TV reports.

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“We have supervisory responsibilities for these kids – they’re easily influenced,” Waggoner said. “It would be very hard for a student to say no to someone they admire and respect.”

“We know as public employees, we’re not allowed to use public resources for influencing the outcome of an election,” she added.

Superintendent Gary Cohn launched an official investigation into the incident after a parent of two of the runners wrote an email to the district, according to the new site.

The parent alleges his kids “were asked to volunteer, however, my kids did not volunteer by were handed two packets, which included a neighborhood map, directions, specific addresses with personal information, and a script to use at each house.”

Of course, candidate Wilson didn’t know anything about his campaign recruiting students.

“The cross country coaches said that they had volunteers that wanted to work on my campaign,” he told KIRO.

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There was also this awkward exchange.

KIRO 7 asked if he saw some students leaving.

“I saw some students leaving, yeah,” he said.

“Did that concern you, that they may have thought this was a practice?’”KIRO 7 asked.

“It did not concern me because I was not involved in that process,” Wilson said, adding that students conferred with coaches, not him, before walking away.

Parents were obviously not happy about the situation.

“I would call that a misuse of their role, really,” Mike Dumas said. “They don’t have any business doing that.”

Cascade High School Principal Cathy Woods apologized for the Oct. 15 incident in a letter sent home to parents.

“ … (O)ur Cross Country coaches asked your student to take part in assisting a political campaign. This should have never happened. I have taken action to ensure that it does not happen again,” Woods wrote.

“In our work with students, we emphasize the importance of ‘doing the right thing.’ Students who felt uncomfortable about Wednesday’s request did the right thing by sharing their discomfort, and I am grateful to them for having shared their uneasiness.”

Woods also issued a reminder email to school staff about the appropriate use of school time, resources and student activities.

Wilson, a Democrat running for Washington’s 44^th House District, is endorsed by the teachers union, as well as many other Big Labor groups. His website page touts campaign visits to “more than 20,000 homes.”

“To get to 20,000 is impressive when you consider that it’s coming from people who aren’t being paid,” Wilson said on the site, the banner of which depicts the wannabe politician surrounded by a dozen students.