Grant v. School District No. 61, Baker County

An area-wide school-reorganization committee proposed a new administrative school district that would consolidate several smaller school districts, including the Eagle Valley high school. The Oregon state legislature had the responsibility for public education. The legislature enacted legislation allowing bond issues to bind a district if a majority of district voters approved a proposed bond. The citizens of Eagle Valley voted in favor of the new administrative district. The Eagle Valley citizens relied on a letter signed by district directors and clerks that promised that the reorganization plan would include a provision that the new district would not result in any school closure absent approval of that school’s patrons. The new administrative-district reorganization plan did not contain the promised provision. Five years after the new administrative district was formed, a majority of voters in the new district voted to consolidate several local high schools, including Eagle Valley, to a larger school seated outside Eagle Valley. Citizens representing the residents of Eagle Valley (the Eagle Valley resident representatives) (plaintiffs) sued the school district (defendant) in state court, seeking a declaration that the district could not close Eagle Valley’s school without their consent. The Eagle Valley resident representatives claimed that they only voted in favor of the new administrative district after relying on the misadvice of the letter from the directors and clerks, which led them to believe the Eagle Valley high school could not be closed absent the consent of Eagle Valley voters. The trial court denied the Eagle Valley representatives’ claim for declaratory relief and ruled in favor of the school district. The Eagle Valley resident representatives appealed to the state supreme court.