Pendleton Citizens for Community Schools v. Marockie
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
507 S.E.2d 673 (1998)
- Written by Ann Wooster, JD
Facts
As part of a public-school consolidation effort, the West Virginia School Building Authority (SBA) scheduled Circleville High School in West Virginia to close and required its students to attend a larger school located farther away from the students’ homes. Pendleton Citizens for Community Schools (Pendleton) (plaintiff), an organization trying to preserve Circleville’s small high-school program, brought an action against SBA and other educational officials and entities (defendants). Pendleton argued that the closure violated the right to education guaranteed by the West Virginia Constitution because this difference in treatment was associated with the students’ residence or wealth. Pendleton asserted that the plan would harm the students due to the negative effects of taking long daily bus rides to a school where involvement in a wide range of activities would be limited by distance. The trial court held that closing Circleville High School violated the students’ state constitutional right to education because no compelling state interests were appropriately served by the pro-consolidation bias of public-school officials in the distribution of state funds. SBA and the other educational officials and entities appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Starcher, J.)
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