Napa Valley school district sues Napa County schools board, chief

Napa Valley Unified School District officials fulfilled their promise to sue the Napa County Office of Education board over its approval of Mayacamas Countywide Middle School.

The complaint, filed Thursday in Napa County Superior Court, also specifically names county schools chief Barbara Nemko.

It seeks an injunction to prevent the countywide charter school from opening, and argues Nemko and the board didn’t follow the law when voting 5-2 on Tuesday to approve it.

Though the suit wasn’t a surprise, singling out Nemko was unexpected.

“We have not been served the lawsuit at this time. In addition, we don't comment on pending litigation,” a Napa County Office of Education spokesperson told The Press Democrat on Thursday afternoon.

The Napa district board last week unanimously approved litigation in a closed session connected to the county schools board’s potential approval of the Mayacamas school.

The lawsuit names Nemko and the county schools board as defendants. It names the Napa Foundation for Options in Education, which oversees the Mayacamas school, and the Napa County Office of Education as parties of interest, referring to the entities with a direct stake in the outcome of the case.

The district characterizes the lawsuit as being a result of the foundation’s “transparent attempt to circumvent an adverse trial court decision that it is currently appealing, and Respondents’ complicity in that scheme,” according to the complaint.

That’s in reference to a prior lawsuit, in which the district challenged the state Board of Education’s effective approval of the currently operating Mayacamas Charter Middle School.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the district’s argument in June. But the school was allowed to open in August on appeal of that judgment.

Among the district’s allegations in the suit filed Thursday is that Nemko and the board, when approving the permit, ignored a portion of California Education Code that prohibits existing public schools from being converted to charter schools.

According to the suit, the Mayacamas Countywide Middle School is a conversion as it will be “operated by the same entity, employing the same teachers and staff, using the same facility, and implementing the same educational program,” according to the petition.

Petitioners claim otherwise.

“There is no legitimate basis for their claims, which will be borne out in due course,” said an email Thursday to The Press Democrat from Jolene Yee and Lauren Daley, co-presidents of the Napa Foundation for Options in Education.

The district’s complaint also alleges Nemko and the board didn’t consider the fiscal impact the countywide charter school would have on the Napa Unified district and others when recommending and approving it.

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