Appeals court to hear Stillwater schools case

An enduring controversy over the Stillwater school board's decision to close three elementary schools goes before the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday for oral arguments.

At issue is whether the closings, in the northern portion of the 8,300-student district, are "necessary and practicable" under state law. A parents' group known as 834 Voice has asked the court to overturn the board's decision.

"There's a real question of whether or not they've got the evidence to sustain this kind of action on their part. I don't think they do," 834 Voice attorney Frederic "Fritz" Knaak said on Monday.

Tuesday's hearing comes against a backdrop of friction in District 834, including new and recent allegations of open meetings violations by board members who voted to close schools in Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix and rural Hugo.

The 834 Voice group argued in its petition that the closings resulted from an ill-informed effort by new Superintendent Denise Pontrelli to cut costs and transfer operating money to a new elementary school in Woodbury. The proposal was presented to the school board without proper public hearings, 834 Voice said, leaving board members to vote on incomplete information including faulty demographic projections.

"The underlying factual premises of the proposal, including the purported savings the closings would bring, have been strongly contested," Knaak wrote in the petition.

In response, an attorney for the school district called the public hearings "exemplary" and said the board's vote to close schools came after numerous proceedings when board members heard evidence and professional opinions, listened to residents, then weighed advantages and disadvantages of Pontrelli's recommendations.

Mikhail declined to comment further.

In May 2015, voters in the Stillwater district approved a $97.5 million bond referendum for new construction and improvements at existing schools.

When Pontrelli revealed publicly in December 2015 that she wanted to close three schools as part of her new BOLD plan — short for "Building Opportunities to Learn and Discover" — parents at those schools said the district had misled voters into supporting the referendum.

The 5-2 school board vote in March to close schools ignited a series of legal actions by parents at the affected schools.

"The BOLD proposal and decision by the district sparked an immediate public outrage among residents ... that has continued unabated," the 834 Voice petition said.

The district presumes that most of those students would transfer to remaining elementary schools, but 834 Voice said that many of those families will move from the district or transfer to charter schools, further eroding per-pupil funding from the state.

In mid-April, over the objections of Pontrelli and her staff, the school board decided to delay the closings indefinitely until the appeals court rules on the 834 Voice petition.

A second lawsuit filed by 834 Voice alleges the school district violated Minnesota's open meetings, bond and election laws. It also accused two district officials of financial conflicts of interest.

In a third case, a Washington County judge in August denied a petition asking that the Stillwater school district return the 2015 bond referendum to voters.

Melissa Douglas, the parent who filed the petition, said she would appeal the ruling.