Saturday, January 26, 2008
The attorney for the girl’s family says he’s encouraged by the decision.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — A girl, originally from Las Vegas, may remain at Boardman High School tuition-free for now.
The 7th District Court of Appeals issued a ruling Friday allowing the 16-year-old to continue to go to school without charge.
Anthony and Katherine Grosso, the girl’s uncle and aunt with whom she lives, filed the action last September in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court asking that the girl be allowed to attend school tuition-free. The Grossos live in the school district.
When the couple tried to enroll the girl in school, they were told they would have to pay $800 per month in tuition. The couple has legal custody of the girl.
The school district argues that the girl is considered a nonresident, and as such, tuition must be paid.
A temporary restraining order had been issued by a common pleas court magistrate, allowing her to remain in school without tuition. But a common pleas court judge’s order dissolved the temporary restraining order.
The Grossos, through Atty. Matthew T. Fekete, appealed the decision to the 7th District Court of Appeals.
At a hearing before the appeals court judges earlier this week, Fekete told the judges that if the girl is withdrawn from school this year, she’ll have to make up an entire school year. The girl is required, by law, to attend school, he said. If she doesn’t, the Grossos could be prosecuted. They cannot afford to pay $800 per month in tuition, he said.
The girl’s parents remain in the Las Vegas area school district.
Atty. Scott C. Essad, who represents the school district, told the judges that the girl is defined as a nonresidential pupil, so tuition must be paid.
School district officials have said that the district receives no state funding for students who are determined to be nonresidents.
The appeals court decision stays the lower court decision, “allowing the child to remain in the Boardman Local School District without charging tuition to any private individual,” the decision says.
The judges also remanded the case to common pleas court to be decided on its merits.
“I am very encouraged by this decision, and most of all, happy for my clients,” Fekete said. “One of the requirements for obtaining injunctive relief is demonstrating to the court that there is a strong likelihood of success on the merits. The court did not reach a final decision in this matter and has remanded the case to the trial court for a final determination of the remaining issues. But by granting an injunction at this stage of the proceedings, the Court of Appeals must have found that my clients do have a strong likelihood of ultimately prevailing in the case.”
He says he believes the law supports his clients’ position and that when legal custody is awarded to a nonparent, tuition cannot be charged by a public school system that receives 70 percent of its funding from local taxpayers.
The Grossos are among those local taxpayers, Fekete said, and children under those circumstances have a fundamental right to a public education.
“We will continue with the case at the trial court level,” he said.
Neither Essad nor school district officials could be reached to comment late Friday.