Walker v. Arkansas State Board of Education

2010 Ark. 277, 365 S.W.3d 899, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 325
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 3, 2010
DocketNo. 09-1253
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 2010 Ark. 277 (Walker v. Arkansas State Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Arkansas State Board of Education, 2010 Ark. 277, 365 S.W.3d 899, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 325 (Ark. 2010).

Opinion

PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice.

liAppellants Carol Walker, individually and on behalf of her minor children Rachel Walker, James Walker, and Heather Walker; Patrick O’Bryant and Tawnya O’Bryant, Rhusband and wife, individually and on behalf of their minor children Christopher O’Bryant and Sean O’Bryant; Jerry Ferguson, individually and on behalf of his minor children Kole Ferguson, Ker-ra Ferguson, and Kannon Ferguson; and Keli Waggoner, individually and on behalf of her minor children Jaycee Waggoner and Bradley Halsell (hereinafter collectively “the Parents”) appeal from the circuit court’s order affirming the decision of ap-pellee the Arkansas State Board of Education (Board), which granted appellee/in-tervenor the Two Rivers School District’s petition for approval to close the Fourche Valley K-12 school campus. Their sole point on appeal is that the circuit court erred in affirming the Board’s decision approving the closure of Fourche Valley Elementary and High School because the Board should be enjoined from acting on petitions for closure until the State fulfills its constitutional duty to define “excessive transportation time” and to adequately fund Arkansas school districts’ transportation needs. The Board cross-appeals, arguing that the circuit court erred by failing to dismiss the Parents’ petition for judicial review (1) because the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act (APA) did not apply, and (2) for lack of standing. We affirm both on direct appeal and on cross-appeal.

The instant appeal stems from the Two Rivers School District’s Board of Directors’ 6-1 vote to close the Fourche Valley K-12 campus, as an isolated school.1 The closure was |3to become effective on June 30, 2009. In accord with Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-602 (Repl.2007), the District filed a petition for approval of closure with the Board. On April 13, 2009, the Board held a hearing on the petition and voted 5-2 to approve the District’s petition.

On May 12, 2009, the Parents filed a petition for judicial review pursuant to the APA, naming the Board and the District as defendants. In their petition, they claimed that they would be “dramatically and negatively impacted” by the District’s attempt to close the Fourche Valley campus. Specifically, they alleged that

[i]f this attempt [to close] is effectuated, some of these children, including those as young as kindergarten and pre-school age, will be force [sic] to ride buses for up to an additional 45 additional [sic] minutes per day for a total of up to four hours per day, and to leave the safety and oversight of their local community, friends, and family to attend classes in a foreign community.

They further averred that the Board could not evaluate the District’s best interest, when the District refused to disclose to the Board or others the fiscal information related to any alternatives to closure.

On May 28, 2009, the Parents filed their first amended petition for judicial review. In that petition, the Parents alleged that them children’s fundamental rights to an adequate educational opportunity would be denied if the Fourche Valley schools were closed in that closure would force them “to endure total transportation time of up to four hours a day with an undetermined negative impact on their academic achievement.” They maintained that the | ¿General Assembly had recognized that student transportation was a necessary component of an adequate education, and they asserted that the decision of the District and the Board to close was not supported by substantial evidence; was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion; and was in violation of their fundamental rights.2

On June 12, 2009, the Board moved to dismiss the Parents’ petition for judicial review. It alleged that the petition was barred because the APA did not apply to the Board’s consideration of the District’s petition, as there was no adjudication before the Board. Accordingly, the Board urged, the circuit court was without jurisdiction. The Board further asserted that the Parents lacked standing to seek review, as they failed to allege sufficient facts to show that they suffered an injury to their persons, business, or property as a result of the Board’s action. Finally, the Board asserted, the petition was barred by the doctrine of res judicata in that the constitutional claims raised by the Parents were fully litigated and resolved in the Lake View School District litigation.3 The same day, the Board filed the transcript of the April 13 hearing at which the vote was taken.

Also on that day, the District filed its motion to dismiss and, alternatively, motion to intervene. In it, the District averred that the Parents’ petition for judicial review was barred as to the District, because the District was not a state agency for purposes of the APA. For |sthat reason, it claimed the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition as against it. It further asserted, like the Board, that the petition was barred because the APA did not apply to the Board’s consideration of the District’s petition, due to the lack of an adjudication; thus, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction. Finally, it claimed that the Board had not issued a final order as required by the APA, the Parents lacked standing, and the Parents’ claims were barred by res judicata. In the alternative, the District asserted, should the circuit court not dismiss the petition as against the Board, the District should be permitted to intervene.

The circuit court held a hearing on the foregoing on June 26, 2009, and on July 8, 2009, the circuit court filed an order denying the Board’s motion to dismiss, granting the District’s motion to dismiss and motion to intervene, and dismissing the Ferguson family as plaintiffs. In addition, the circuit court remanded the matter to the Board to adopt findings of fact and conclusions of law. On July 13, 2009, the Board held another hearing on the matter and issued findings of fact and conclusions of law, which the Board then filed with the circuit court. On July 14, 2009, the District filed its supplemental motion to dismiss the remaining Parents for lack of standing, on the basis that their students had transferred to other districts.

The next day, the Parents filed their supplemental petition for judicial review, response to the District’s first supplemental motion to dismiss, and motion for reconsideration. They contended that it was irrelevant where their children were going to school, as they were injured and their constitutional rights violated by the closure of the Fourche Valley campus. They alleged that they had been forced to choose among unconstitutional alternatives and that | fitheir standing was not lost simply because they had taken steps to mitigate their constitutional injury. They further urged the circuit court to reconsider its dismissal of the Fergusons.

On July 16, 2009, the circuit court held a second hearing. At that hearing, the circuit court ruled that the Parents had standing, that there was substantial evidence for the closing, and that the Board’s decision was not arbitrary or capricious. It then memorialized those rulings in its order of August 10, 2009, wherein the circuit court made the following findings, in pertinent part:

7. This Court held a second hearing on July 16, 2009.

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Bluebook (online)
2010 Ark. 277, 365 S.W.3d 899, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-arkansas-state-board-of-education-ark-2010.