Local News in Brief : Court to Hear Miraleste Appeal

A state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles will hear arguments Thursday in a lawsuit that barred the Palos Verdes Peninsula school board from closing Miraleste High School last year.

The board is asking the three-judge panel to overturn a May 10 ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miriam Vogel, who held that Miraleste cannot be closed until the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District determines whether the closure meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

That law requires most government agencies and private firms to report on the possible environmental effects of construction projects or other major changes in land use. The school board contends that another state law specifically exempts school districts from filing such reports when they close campuses.

Vogel, in response to a lawsuit filed by a parents group fighting to save Miraleste, ruled that the school board must nevertheless consider the “cumulative impact” of adding the closing of that campus to other school closures on the east side of the peninsula.

The district appealed Vogel’s ruling in July. The appellate court may take several months to reach a decision. Meanwhile, the school board has hired a consultant who is preparing a comprehensive environmental impact report.