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The latest chapter in the fight to save three area elementary schools will take place in Kosciusko Circuit Court Friday morning.
At 9:30 a.m. Friday, Special Judge Douglas B. Morton, of Fulton Circuit Court, will hear arguments for and against dismissing a lawsuit by Concerned Citizens for Quality Education that seeks an injunction against closing Atwood, Claypool and Silver Lake elementaries.
The Warsaw school board voted in September to close the three elementaries after the current school year, citing budget considerations and stating the corporation could save approximately $300,000 per year by closing the schools and busing the students to other schools.
On Oct. 8, CCQE filed for a permanent injunction to keep the three schools open, claiming the students from those schools would be bused long distances and forced into schools that are already at or near capacity.
On March 1, the school board filed a motion to dismiss the CCQE lawsuit, saying the court has no jurisdiction in the case, CCQE has no standing to bring the complaint and CCQE failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted.
The lawsuit said CCQE does not allege that closing the schools is illegal or violates Indiana law, that the school board does not have authority to close the schools or that the board violated the law in the process the board used to decide to close the schools.
"They just think closing the three schools is a bad idea," WCS claimed in the lawsuit.
They also said, "It is not the court's role to decide what type of educational plan should serve any particular segment of the population."
In alleging that CCQE has no standing to bring the suit, WCS claimed: "The general rule in Indiana is that a citizen/taxpayer who has no injury beyond that of the general public does not have standing to sue and challenge the actions of public entities."
In the present case, the "injury," the closing of the three schools, is no different than that suffered by the general public and therefore ... "they lack standing to pursue this litigation."
On March 26, CCQE filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss, saying they filed the lawsuit because the school board made an "arbitrary and capricious" decision to close three elementary schools before construction had begun on replacement schools. They also claimed that the students in the closed schools will be bused to other schools that are at or over capacity.
CCQE has standing to file for an injunction, they said, because they are parents, grandparents and guardians of elementary schoolchildren who attend the schools to be closed. They have a personal interest in the outcome of the litigation and have standing under the public standing doctrine because they are seeking enforcement of a public right or duty and protection for their and their children's private rights.
WCS claimed to save $300,000 by closing schools, CCQE said, but they "have never provided corroboration for this figure."
CCQE said the closing and subsequent busing of students to other schools will violate the Prime Time Guidelines of the Indiana Board of Education and the school board's own policies, and it will incur excessive and unnecessary expenses by having to buy more buses, hire more drivers and engage in redistricting.
On April 16, both sides met in a mediation session. After that meeting, Morton issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the permanent removal of any items from Atwood, Claypool and Silver Lake schools and the boxing or crating for removal of any items in classrooms. The order did not prevent teachers or administrators from boxing or removing personal materials or their own classroom items.
The attorney for WCS, Thomas Wheeler, of Indianapolis, and the attorney for CCQE, John Price, also of Indianapolis, both said the school board representatives had agreed to discuss a referendum and a remonstrance at the next school board meeting, which was April 19, but the board and superintendent Dr. David McGuire refused to discuss either subject.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for May 17. Seats currently held by board members Craig Allebach, Jim Folk and Mark Minatel are up for election in November.
