Napa County judge set to strike down second effort to stop Mayacamas Countywide Middle School from opening

A Napa County Superior Court judge on Wednesday is set to strike down a second effort to prevent the Mayacamas Countywide Middle School from opening in Napa, according to a tentative ruling issued Tuesday.

The ruling comes after the Napa Valley Unified School District sued the Napa County Office of Education board and county Superintendent Barbara Nemko in March, following the board’s approval of the charter school.

The district argues that the board and Nemko didn’t follow the law during the process of assessing and approving the school. Specifically at issue is whether the countywide school constitutes a conversion of the existing Mayacamas Charter Middle School as conversions of public schools to charter schools, including conversions of existing charter schools, are prohibited by the state’s education code.

The district also argues Nemko and the board didn’t properly consider the financial impact the school would have on the district by sapping enrollment-based funding.

The district swiftly sought an emergency injunction in March to stop the charter school from moving forward, but was denied by a judge given the harm the district may suffer as a result of the school opening didn’t constitute an emergency as it wouldn’t happen in the next three weeks.

The district filed a second motion for a preliminary injunction this month.

But the request is set to be denied Wednesday, according to the tentative ruling. The reason is the potential harms that would come to the charter school organization as a result of the school not opening, according to the ruling, are “far more concrete, and far more considerable than those facing NVUSD in the absence of a preliminary injunction.”

The remainder of the lawsuit remains active, though the court also found, based on current filings, there’s “a very small likelihood that NVUSD will prevail on the merits of its claim in the action,” according to the tentative ruling.

As for the conversion question, the ruling notes “reasonable persons” could conclude that the countywide school isn’t a conversion of the current school, “and it would be improper for the Court to weigh the competing evidence and exercise its independent discretion on the issue.”

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.