Johnson v. LENNOX SCHOOL DIST. NO. 41-4, 22194.

• Decision Date: 24 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. 22194.,22194.
• Citation: 649 N.W.2d 617,2002 SD 89
• Parties: Jennifer JOHNSON et al., Petitioners and Residents of Candlelight Acres, Appellees, v. LENNOX SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 41-4, Appellant.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

649 N.W.2d 617

2002 SD 89

Jennifer JOHNSON et al., Petitioners and Residents of Candlelight Acres, Appellees, v. LENNOX SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 41-4, Appellant.

No. 22194.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs May 28, 2002.

Decided July 24, 2002.

Debra S. Sittig of Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith, Sioux Falls, for appellees.

Rodney Freeman, Jr. of Churchill, Manolis, Freeman, Kludt, Shelton & Burns, Huron, for appellant.

PER CURIAM.

[¶ 1.] The Lennox School District appeals a circuit court judgment reversing its denial of a petition for a minor school district boundary change. We affirm.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] The Petitioners are residents of the Candlelight Acres residential development in southwest Sioux Falls, Lincoln County, South Dakota. Although the City of Sioux Falls has annexed Candlelight Acres so that it now lies within city limits, the area remains in the Lennox School District. The Lennox District was organized some thirty-two years ago, before the residential development in Candlelight Acres. It covers portions of Minnehaha, Lincoln and Turner counties and includes the communities of Lennox, Tea, Chancellor, Worthing and, currently, that part of southwest Sioux Falls encompassing Candlelight Acres.

[¶ 3.] At the time the boundary change petition was filed, approximately twenty-five school-aged children lived in Candlelight Acres. Of those twenty-five, approximately fifteen were attending school in the Sioux Falls School District through the open enrollment policy provided for by SDCL 13-28-40 et seq.¹ The remainder of the children were attending school at private schools in Sioux Falls or in the Lennox School District.

[¶ 4.] The Petitioners filed their boundary change petition on August 14, 2000 to transfer Candlelight Acres from the Lennox School District to the Sioux Falls School District. The petition was filed with both the Lennox and Sioux Falls School Districts and with the Lincoln and Minnehaha County Commissions. Several of the Petitioners appeared with their counsel and addressed the Lennox School Board at its regular meeting on August 14, but the Board continued the petition to its next regular meeting so that it could consult with its counsel.

[¶ 5.] On August 28, some of the Petitioners and their counsel appeared before the Sioux Falls School Board relative to the boundary change. The Sioux Falls Board voted to approve the change subject to the Petitioners' compliance with all legal requirements and subject to the approval of the change by the Lennox School Board.

[¶ 6.] The Petitioners and their counsel next appeared before the Lennox School Board on September 11. In order to obtain some updated valuation figures for the property affected by the boundary change, the petition was again continued until a special meeting held on December 4. After presentation of the case for the Petitioners and the District's response, the Board voted to deny the petition. The Board subsequently entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in accord with its decision and the Petitioners appealed to the circuit court. A hearing was held on June 27, 2001 and the court later entered findings of fact, conclusions of law and a judgment reversing the Board's denial of the petition. The District now appeals to this Court.

ISSUE

[¶ 7.] Was the Board's denial of the boundary change petition arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion?

[¶ 8.] This Court's standards of review in a school district boundary dispute are outlined in Smith v. Canton School Dist. No. 41-1, 1999 SD 111, ¶ 9, 599 N.W.2d 637, 639-40 (1999):

School boards enjoy broad discretion in [decision making] and need only make sure their decisions are not arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable. Kellogg v. Hoven Sch. Dist. No. 53-2, 479 N.W.2d 147, 149 (S.D.1991). A decision is arbitrary and capricious when it is "not governed by any fixed rules or standard." Black's Law Dictionary 104 (6th ed. 1990).

[¶ 9.] This Court reviews a school board decision on a boundary change petition unfettered by any presumption that the circuit court correctly decided the matter in its review. See Smith, 1999 SD 111 at ¶ 7, 599 N.W.2d at 639. Rather, this Court seeks to ascertain whether there is substantial evidence to support the board's decision. See Colman-Egan School Dist. No. 50-5 v. Jones, 520 N.W.2d 890, 892 (S.D.1994)(quoting Oldham-Ramona School Dist. v. Ust, 502 N.W.2d 574, 580-81 (S.D.1993)).

[¶ 10.] In Smith, supra, this Court determined a school board was arbitrary and capricious and abused its discretion in denying a boundary change petition where the record indicated the board rewrote or ignored the factors applicable to consideration of such petitions.² A similar case exists here.

[¶ 11.] Under settled law, the following factors must be considered in reviewing a boundary change petition:³

1. Whether the petitioners are more closely aligned to the economic, social and religious life of the community into which they are being transferred.

2. Whether there is bus service to the residence.

3. Whether the district line which places their property in the current district was drawn in an arbitrary fashion.

4. Whether petitioner's child has special needs best met in the District petitioners are attempting to join.

5. Whether the petitioners live closer to the school district they are joining as opposed to the district they are leaving.

Smith, 1999 SD 111 at ¶ 9, 599 N.W.2d at 640 (citing Oelrichs School Dist. v. Sides, 1997 SD 55, ¶ 11, 562 N.W.2d 907, 911). Each of these factors along with the Board's findings on the issue and the other applicable evidence will be reviewed in the order set forth above.

Alignment with the Community to Which Transfer is Being Sought

[¶ 12.] The Board found that the Candlelight Acres area has been part of the Lennox School District for thirty-two years and that the area was not annexed by Sioux Falls until 1997. In addition, the Board found that a significant number of Lennox School District patrons commute to Sioux Falls for work and outside activities and that patrons of Sioux Falls also travel to communities in the Lennox School District for such activities. In a finding of questionable relevance, the Board also set forth that "no suburban school district stands alone in this issue" and that the Lennox School District has boundaries reaching the Canton District, the West Central and Parker Districts, the Harrisburg Districts and the Sioux Falls District.

[¶ 13.] None of the Board's findings adequately assess the factor of alignment with the community to which transfer is being sought. An important fact distinguishing this case from many boundary change cases is that the Petitioners actually live in the community to which they are seeking a transfer. Thus, contrary to the findings of the Board, these Petitioners are not mere commuters to Sioux Falls, but are actually Sioux Falls residents. Not only do they actually live in Sioux Falls, the record demonstrates that they are more closely related to Sioux Falls. They work, shop, conduct business, seek medical and dental care and utilize day care and babysitters in Sioux Falls. They attend church, socialize with friends and family and participate in entertainment and leisure time activities in Sioux Falls. Most of their children currently attend school in Sioux Falls at private schools or through open enrollment at the public schools. The record further shows that the Petitioners conduct little or no economic, social or religious activities in the other communities in the Lennox School District. All telephone calls in the Candlelight Acres area are local calls while calls to other communities in the Lennox District are long distance.

[¶ 14.] The record also reflects that the Lennox District has done little to make the Petitioners feel a part of that district. The Petitioners asserted before the Board that they were left out of various surveys concerning District issues. Sioux Falls is not listed as one of the communities in the Lennox School District in its materials or on District letterhead. A long term planning committee appointed by the Lennox School Board includes representatives from Lennox, Tea, Worthing and Chancellor, but none from Candlelight Acres.

[¶ 15.] Based upon the foregoing, the factor of alignment with the community to which transfer is being sought clearly supports the Petitioners in this case.

Bus Service

[¶ 16.] The Board's only finding as to bus service provides that, "while Petitioners have expressed concern that transportation may not be provided by the Sioux Falls School District through Open Enrollment, the slight inconvenience to the parents of the children cannot outweigh the financial detriment to the district which would be caused by granting the Petition." This reflects inadequate consideration of the factor of bus service.

[¶ 17.] The record shows that the Lennox School District provides bus service to Candlelight Acres, but that children in the development who ride the bus are the first ones on in the morning and the last ones off at night. The only high school in the Lennox District is eighteen miles from the development while Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School is only four miles from the development. Other schools in the Lennox District are generally further away from Candlelight Acres than their counterparts in the Sioux Falls District. Thus, bus rides would usually be longer for students in Candlelight Acres attending school in the Lennox District. Moreover, bus routes in the Lennox School District run through rural areas. The Petitioners raised concerns over the length of bus rides and winter road conditions as support for their petition.

[¶ 18.] The Sioux Falls School District provides bus service for its own students only. Open enrollment students are responsible for their own transportation. If the Petitioners' petition was granted, busing in the Sioux Falls District would be available to their...