Not a good time for a lawsuit

The Los Altos School District board has filed a lawsuit against the Santa Clara County Board of Education, challenging the county board’s ruling that Bullis Charter School – approved and sponsored by the county – can grant priority acceptance to students in the Bullis-Purissima School attendance area.

The district may have a good case. Los Altos school board members cite the state education code, which states, in part: “Admission to a charter school shall not be determined according to the place or residence of the pupil.”

That said, we wonder whether the district needed to resort to potentially costly legal action.

The district will be spending money for legal fees in the face of heavy state budget cuts that will leave the K-8 school district struggling to make ends meet. And when one public district sues another, the taxpayers pay twice to fight a lawsuit on both ends.

Legal action should be the last resort when the district concludes its programs and students are threatened. In this case, would the charter hurt the attendance of Bullis-Purissima School, scheduled to reopen this fall? District officials don’t really know.

Superintendent Tim Justus said the county’s decision might have an impact – might – in the long run. “It’s not about losing children, but really about the interpretation,” he said.

But state education code is vague, both district officials and county board members acknowledge. Rulings from the courts could take months.

We urge the district board not to pursue the lawsuit. For months, relations between Los Altos Hills and the school district have been improving as the district has made good on its promise to renovate Bullis-Purissima School for a fall reopening.

Although the majority of town residents are not involved in the charter school, neither side needs this proverbial fly in the ointment at such a sensitive time.

The last thing we all need is another controversial court case dragging on and on. Let’s work instead for peaceful co-existence with the charter school.