Better Choice Foundation v. Orleans Parish School Board

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedJune 30, 2020
Docket2:20-cv-00469
StatusUnknown

This text of Better Choice Foundation v. Orleans Parish School Board (Better Choice Foundation v. Orleans Parish School Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Better Choice Foundation v. Orleans Parish School Board, (E.D. La. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

BETTER CHOICE FOUNDATION CIVIL ACTION D/B/A MARY D. COGHILL CHARTER SCHOOL, NO: 20-469

VERSUS SECTION: “T” (4)

ORLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND DR. HENDERSON LEWIS, JR. SUPERINTENDENT, ORLEANS PARISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

ORDER

On March 10, 2020, the Orleans Parish School Board and Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., in his official capacity as Superintendent of Orleans Parish Public Schools, (jointly, “Defendants”), filed a Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) against Better Choice Foundation d/b/a Mary D. Coghill Charter School (“Plaintiff”).1 Plaintiff filed an opposition on March 17, 2020.2 With leave of the Court, Defendants on April 7, 2020, filed a reply in support of their Motion to Dismiss3. For the following reasons, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss4 is GRANTED, and Plaintiff’s federal claim is hereby dismissed with prejudice. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This lawsuit arises from a contractual dispute between a private non-profit corporation operating a charter school and a parish school board. Plaintiff corporation seeks injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief for an alleged violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, contending Defendants have deprived it of a

1 R. Doc. 11. 2 R. Doc. 14. 3 R. Doc. 25. 4 R. Doc. 11. vested property interest without due process of law.5 Plaintiff asserts this Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 1343(a)(3) and (4), and 2201.6 Plaintiff also seeks relief under Louisiana state law, contending the statute authorizing the Defendants’ actions is unconstitutional under the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.7 According to Plaintiff’s Complaint,8 prior to Hurricane Katrina the Orleans Parish School

Board (“OPSB”) operated Mary D. Coghill School as a traditional public school under the direct control of the OPSB.9 Following Hurricane Katrina, the school was transferred to the control of the Recovery School District (“RSD”).10 Thereafter, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (“BESE”) authorized the school to become a Type 5 charter school.11 BESE contracted with Plaintiff, Better Choice Foundation, to operate the school, which became known as Mary D. Coghill Charter School, an open-enrollment community school servicing the Gentilly, Gentilly Woods, and Pontchartrain Park neighborhoods.12 In 2016, Plaintiff successfully sought to be transferred from the jurisdiction of BESE and the RSD to that of the OPSB.13 On July 1, 2016, OPSB and Better Choice Foundation entered into a Type 3B Charter School Operating Agreement (the “Charter Operating Agreement”).14 The term

5 R. Doc. 1. 6 Id. 7 Id. 8 R. Doc. 1. 9 Id., p. 3. 10 Id. 11 A Type 5 charter school is a preexisting public school transferred to the Recovery School District as a school determined to be failing pursuant to R.S. 17:10.5 or R.S. 17:10.7, and operated as the result of and pursuant to a charter between a nonprofit corporation and the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. See generally LA. ADMIN. CODE tit. 51, pt. 139 (2019). 12 R. Doc. 1, pp. 2-3. 13 R. Doc. 1, pp. 3-4. 14 A Type 3B charter school is a former Type 5 charter school transferred from the Recovery School District to the administration and management of the transferring local school system pursuant to R.S. 17:10.5, R.S. 17:10.7 and Bulletin 129, §505. See generally LA. ADMIN. CODE tit. 28, pt. 139 (2019). of the Charter Operating Agreement is four years, expiring on June 30, 2020, unless terminated, extended, or renewed.15 At the November 21, 2019 OPSB meeting, Orleans Parish Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. (“Superintendent Lewis”) recommended to the OPSB that the OPSB not renew Plaintiff’s Charter Operating Agreement.16 Superintendent Lewis recommended the non-

renewal of the Charter Operating Agreement because Plaintiff had received an “F” rating for the 2018-2019 school year.17 On December 19, 2019, the OPSB voted on Superintendent Lewis’s recommendation not to renew Plaintiff’s Charter Operating Agreement.18 Pursuant to La. R.S. § 17:10.7.1, to reject Superintendent Lewis’s recommendation, the OPSB must reject the recommendation by a two- thirds vote of the full membership of the board.19 Having a full membership of seven, the OPSB needed five of its seven members to reject the recommendation.20 With one member absent, the OPSB voted 4-2 to reject the recommendation.21 Having only four of the five votes needed to reject the recommendation, the OPSB did not reject Superintendent Lewis’s recommendation

under La. R.S. 17:10.7.1, and the Superintendent was thus authorized to implement his recommendation. As discussed more fully below, Plaintiff asserts it acquired a property interest in the renewal of the Charter Operating Agreement at this point based on the OPSB’s 4-2 vote. Thereafter, Superintendent Lewis issued a School Closure and Transformation Checklist to Plaintiff.22

15 R. Doc. 6-1, p.3. 16 Id. 17 Id. The merits of that recommendation are not before the Court. 18 R. Doc. 6-1, p.4. 19 R. Doc. 11-1, p.5; La. R.S. § 17:10.7.1(F)(1). 20 R. Doc. 11-1, pp.12-13. 21 R. Doc. 6-1, p.4. 22 R. Doc. 6-1, p.4. On February 10, 2020, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit.23 On February 28, 2020, Plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary and mandatory injunction.24 Plaintiff sought a preliminary injunction prohibiting Superintendent Lewis from taking actions to transition Mary D. Coghill Charter School back to the direct control of the OPSB.25 Plaintiff also sought a mandatory injunction against the

OPSB mandating it renew Plaintiff’s Charter Operating Agreement in accordance with its December 19, 2019 vote.26 On March 10, 2020, Defendants filed an opposition.27 On March 17, 2020, with leave of the Court, Plaintiff filed a reply.28 On March 31, 2020, Defendants filed a sur- reply in opposition, also with leave of the Court.29 Defendants filed the instant Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under FRCP 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim under FRCP 12(b)(6).30 In their motion, Defendants contend Plaintiff’s complaint, comprising of factually incorrect statements, conclusory allegations without any factual support, and undisputed factual allegations, does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted.31 Defendants also contend Plaintiff lacks standing to bring its suit against Defendants.32

LAW AND ANALYSIS A. MOTION TO DISMISS A motion to dismiss filed under Rule 12(b)(1) challenges a federal court's subject matter jurisdiction.33 Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction; therefore, they have the power to

23 R. Doc. 1. 24 R. Doc. 6-1. 25 R. Doc. 6-1, p.2. 26 Id. 27 R. Doc. 12. 28 R. Doc. 16. 29 R. Doc. 19; R. Doc. 19-1. 30 R. Doc. 11-1. 31 R. Doc. 11-1, p.8. 32 R. Doc. 11-1, pp.13-14. 33 See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1).

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Better Choice Foundation v. Orleans Parish School Board, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/better-choice-foundation-v-orleans-parish-school-board-laed-2020.