FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Ruling Backs District in School Closure
A judge has cleared the way for the Fountain Valley School District to sell or lease Fountain Valley Elementary School, despite efforts of a parents group that tried to keep the school open.
Orange County Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam ruled that the school district did not act illegally when it voted to close the school June 30.
In February, a 40-member parent group, the Future Education Protection Committee, filed a lawsuit contending that the school district did not properly conduct its environmental impact study and that the closing would waste public money.
The lawsuit also included warnings about Roch Courreges Elementary School, one of three schools the relocated Fountain Valley Elementary students would be attending. The parents believe Roch Courreges is too close to high-tension electrical lines.
“My kids will never attend that school,” said Barbara Emerson, a plaintiff in the case. “If we have to, we’ll send them to a private school.”
Since April 25, the school district was under a temporary restraining order prohibiting the lease or sale of Fountain Valley Elementary until the judge made his ruling.
Allen Brandt, attorney for the parents, said a decision about whether to appeal the case has not been made.
School district Supt. Rubin L. Ingram said the district has never had plans to sell the school but may lease the property.
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