Suit over North School dismissed; district may seek attorney’s fees
A rendering of the proposed new North School campus. A lawsuit dismissed this week brings construction closer to reality. Rendering by SVA Architects
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Hermosa Beach City School District that sought to prevent the district from beginning construction on the North School campus.
In a decision released Monday, Judge Holly Kendig ruled that both of the claims filed by resident Blair Smith against the district were submitted too late. Although the two code sections under which the suit was filed do not contain statutes of limitations, the district successfully argued that Smith’s suit was a “validation action” and therefore subject to a 60-day statute of limitations. The suit, filed against the district in late August 2017, should have been submitted at the latest within two months of the February announcement of the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for North, Kendig wrote.
Because she based her ruling on the statute of limitations issue, Kendig’s opinion does not address the lengthy list of deceptions and ethical violations the suit alleged HBCSD committed in association with Measure S, a school facilities bond passed by voters in June of 2016 to fund the reconstruction North School and improvements at other district facilities. Among the complaint’s allegations: that North School was deserving of consideration as a historic resource, that more economical alternatives existed to address current overcrowding, and that the school board illegally used district funds to aid the measure’s chances of passing.
Kendig’s opinion, however, implied that the recitation of issues put the suit in the category of a validation action, instead of one with a less restrictive time limit. Smith’s allegations “are so full of arguments relating to the validity of Measure S…that it would be virtually impossible” to amend the complaint in such a way that it would not be subject to the 60-day limit, Kendig wrote.
In a statement after the release of the opinion, Superintendent Patricia Escalante said that the ruling was a “validation” of the North School project and Measure S.
“It is a win for the entire community of Hermosa Beach, now and for future generations,” Escalante said.
The statement also said that the district planned to seek “costs and fees allowable under the appropriate codes.” It is not clear how much the district has expended in defending the suit, but school board members have previously lamented in public meetings that legal fees were cutting into classroom priorities.
Calls to Morgan Ricketts, the attorney representing Smith, were not immediately returned.