Quasti v. North Penn School District

907 A.2d 42, 2006 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 491
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 7, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 907 A.2d 42 (Quasti v. North Penn School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quasti v. North Penn School District, 907 A.2d 42, 2006 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 491 (Pa. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Senior Judge McCLOSKEY.

Alfred J. Quasti, Jr. (Appellant) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County (trial court), denying his petition for a preliminary injunction seeking to compel the North Penn School District (the District) to provide busing for Appellant’s children to and from the Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Elementary School (MMR). We affirm.

The following facts were submitted by stipulation of the parties at the hearing before the trial court on August 16, 2005. Appellant is an individual who resides within the District at 120 Claremont Drive, Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Appellant is a parent of two students currently enrolled at MMR, a non-profit school. Appellant’s oldest child has attended MMR since it opened in September of 2003. Throughout the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years, Appellant’s child was transported to and from MMR by buses provided by the District.

As a general rule, the District is reimbursed by the Commonwealth for any expenditure it undertakes in transporting children to and from school. However, the District is not reimbursed for the transportation costs of a student who resides within one and one-half (1)6) miles1 of his/ her school provided that student has ac[44]*44cess to a District proposed student walking route2 certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) as non-hazardous.3 In determining whether a District proposed student walking route is hazardous, PennDOT examines the school-time traffic patterns, pedestrian accident history, availability of crosswalks/crossing guards and general formation of the roadways a student would have to walk along or cross in traversing the student walking route.4 If PennDOT certifies a student walking route as non-hazardous, and the District disagrees with that determination, the District may elect to provide bus transportation despite PennDOT’s conclusion,5 but it will receive no compensation from the Commonwealth for said transportation.

In anticipation of MMR’s opening, the District submitted proposed student walking routes to PennDOT. During the first year of MMR’s operation, the District bused Appellant’s child and those similarly situated, as PennDOT had not yet completed its inspection. On November 24, 2004, PennDOT issued its report certifying the proposed walking route as non-hazardous. Rather than discontinue bus service during the course of the school year, the District responded to parental concerns by continuing all busing.

The walking route at issue covers approximately one mile, winding through a series of neighborhoods with existing sidewalks, but requiring the crossing of six intersections that will not be supervised by crossing guards. The walking route then continues through a developed subdivision, namely, Stony Court, to a point at which the end of a cul-de-sac abuts the rear of [45]*45MMR property. It is at this point where the children using the walking route enter the MMR grounds by proceeding over a loose gravel pathway within an area identified in the approved land development plan as an “emergency access” easement. The gravel path is believed to have been created by MMR personnel to gain access to the front of the MMR building from the Stony Court cul-de-sac.

In reliance upon PennDOT’s finding, Marianne Cleary (Appellee Cleary), the District’s transportation coordinator, in a letter dated March 1, 2005, informed Appellant as well as other parents of children enrolled in MMR, that, effective September, 2005, the District would discontinue its bus service for those students of MMR who could utilize the walking route. In response, Appellant wrote to PennDOT requesting that it reconsider its decision and conduct a new survey of the walking route. Appellant included with his letter a copy of MMR’s previously approved development plans, which show the “emergency access” designation where the gravel path is located. Appellant opined in his letter that the use of the gravel path as a walking route for an estimated 100 or more students would be inconsistent with its “emergency access” designation. Appellant therefore proposed that any student walking route should lead to the front of the school property, where two paved points of ingress/egress exist.6

By letter dated March 30, 2005, Penn-DOT informed Appellant that a dispute over the propriety of the walking route must be resolved with the District and, likewise, that any request for a re-survey of the walking route must be initiated by the District. Having been so notified, Appellant wrote to Appellee Cleary, requesting that the District submit a request for a survey of a student walking route that led to the front of the MMR school grounds. Appellant’s request was denied and Appellant was so informed by John Dooley, the District’s solicitor, in a letter dated May 10, 2005.

Unsatisfied with this response, Appellant requested that the District’s solicitor reconsider this decision. Appellant included with his letter a copy of a June 28, 2005, letter of Gerald F. Grover (Chief Grover), Montgomery Township’s Director of Fire Services, who stated, with reference to the rear of the MMR property at Stony Court, “[t]he emergency access road is not, and never was, intended to be used by students. It was intended for emergency access of public safety vehicles only. Use by emergency vehicles is the sole purpose and reason the road was included in the land development plan approved by the Board of Supervisors.” (R.R. at 46).

Due to the District’s solicitor’s failure to respond to his reconsideration letter, Appellant re-submitted his request in late July, 2005. Having received no response to either letter, Appellant instituted the within cause of action on August 9, 2005, approximately one month before the start of the 2005-2006 school year, by filing a complaint in mandamus and petition for preliminary injunction. Appellant sought an order from the trial court compelling the District to continue transporting his children as it had done during the prior two school years. Following a hearing, the trial court issued an order denying Appellant’s request for preliminary injunc-tive relief. Appellant thereafter filed a notice of appeal with the trial court.

[46]*46Pursuant to Pa. R.A.P.1925(b), the trial court ordered Appellant to serve upon it a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. Appellant complied, and on March 31, 2006, the trial court issued an opinion in support of its order. In its opinion, the trial court found that Appellant’s allegation that the walking route was improper and contrary to law was without merit. The trial court found that Appellant had offered no evidence demonstrating that the District had acted outside of its delegated authority by way of bad faith, official misconduct or fraud. Thus, the trial court found that Appellant had failed to carry the heavy burden required when requesting a mandatory injunction.

On appeal, Appellant first argues that the trial court erred as a matter of law in denying its request for preliminary injunc-tive relief, as the express language of Section 1366 of the Public School Code applies only to public schools. Alternatively, if Section 1366 does apply to private schools, Appellant argues that the District’s reliance upon said Section to deny Appellant’s children bus transportation is based upon a misconception of the law and that Sections 1362 and 1366 are antiquated and in need of revision.

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Bluebook (online)
907 A.2d 42, 2006 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quasti-v-north-penn-school-district-pacommwct-2006.