On Monday, March 4 the Franklin Superior Court issued a decision in the multidistrict lawsuit challenging the State Board’s Final Report of Decisions and Order dated November 28, 2018. The decision from the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction of the relevant school district mergers ordered by the State Board.
The court’s decision means that the unification process will go forward while the court makes a final decision on the legal case brought by the Athens, et al. plaintiffs. The transition to full operations for all new union districts created by the State Board will proceed lawfully in accordance with the State Board’s Articles of Agreement for each of these new union school districts. Because this guidance focuses on the critical steps leading to full operations, it does not explicitly address the existing union districts that the State Board enlarged or conditionally enlarged. Similarly, because separate lawsuits are pending for the Lamoille South Unified Union School District and the Huntington School District, those merger processes will not be specifically addressed by this guidance.