Fort Smith Sch. Dist. v. Deer-Mt. Judea Sch. Dist.

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Deer/Mt. Judea School District (“Deer/Mt. Judea”) filed a complaint on its own behalf and on behalf of its students and taxpayers, alleging that the State had illegally and unconstitutionally failed to provide adequate funding to small, remote schools, some of which it closed. Deer/Mt. Judea sought declarations that the State’s school-funding and education systems were inequitable and inadequate and that section 32 of Act 293 of 2010 constituted special legislation and injunctions prohibiting the closure of the small, remote schools, among other things. The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s dismissal of some of Deer/Mt. Judea’s claims. Fort Smith School District, Greenwood School District, Alma School District, and Van Buren School District (collectively, “Fort Smith”) filed a motion to intervene in the litigation. The circuit court denied the motion, concluding that Fort Smith’s motion was untimely, and even if it was timely, Fort Smith did not have an interest in the case that needed to be protected. The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the motion to intervene, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for intervention as untimely. View "Fort Smith Sch. Dist. v. Deer-Mt. Judea Sch. Dist." on Justia Law