Racine Charter One v. Racine Unified School Dist., 05-1003.

Citation424 F.3d 677
Decision Date22 September 2005
Docket NumberNo. 05-1003.,05-1003.
PartiesRACINE CHARTER ONE, INC. D/B/A 21st Century Preparatory School, Christine Hauck, and Sherry James, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. RACINE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Jeffrey Leavell (argued), Racine, WI, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Susan E. Lovern, Von Briesen & Roper, Milwaukee, WI, and Gilbert J. Berthelsen (argued), Briesen & Roper, Racine, WI, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before CUDAHY, EVANS, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Racine Charter One (Charter One), an independent public charter school located in Racine County, Wisconsin, sued defendant Racine Unified School District (RUSD), alleging that the district's refusal to bus the charter school's students constitutes a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United Stated Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court granted summary judgment in RUSD's favor, finding that Charter One students are not similarly situated to those students who do receive the busing benefit, and that the additional cost of transporting Charter One students constituted a rational basis for RUSD's decision to deny the school's request for transportation. Because we find that the plaintiff's students are not similarly situated to those who receive the busing benefit, and that the additional cost of extending the busing benefit to Charter One students provides a rational basis for RUSD's decision not to transport the plaintiff's students, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Wisconsin law provides for two kinds of charter schools: those sponsored by local school districts, Wis. Stat. § 118.40, and those sponsored by other entities explicitly authorized by the state legislature, Wis. Stat. § 118.40(2r) (hereinafter, "(2r) charter schools"). Charter One falls within the latter category, established by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside pursuant to authority granted on a pilot basis by Wisconsin Statute § 118.40(2r)(b)(1)(c). The plaintiff school is located in Racine County, Wisconsin, and falls within the geographical boundaries of the RUSD.

The charter school, which is open and free to all who seek to enroll, is the only (2r) charter school located within the RUSD. The school operates independently from the defendant, as the district does not govern or exert any control whatsoever over the (2r) charter school. Charter One currently teaches grades K-6, and enrolls approximately 305 students. Its school year is longer than the ordinary RUSD public school year, and even includes a mandatory three-week summer session. Its students reside throughout Racine County.

In addition to providing for the establishment of charter schools, Wisconsin law also obliges local school districts to provide transportation to certain students residing within their districts. Wisconsin Statute § 121.54 requires each local school district to transport public, private, and parochial school students who (1) reside within the district; (2) attend a school within the geographical boundaries of that district; (3) attend a school within their designated attendance area; and (4)(a) reside two miles or more from that school or (b) would otherwise encounter unusual hazards in walking to and from that school. Wis. Stat. §§ 121.54(2)(a), 121.54(2)(b), & 121.54(9). RUSD's written transportation policy closely tracks the requirements of Section 121.54, with one exception. In contrast to the state-required minimum radius of two miles, the RUSD policy provides transportation for all otherwise qualifying K-5 students who live only one and one-half miles or more from their respective schools.1 Thus, at least in this one respect, RUSD has extended the busing benefit to more students than Wisconsin state law would require.

Before opening in September 2002, Charter One requested that RUSD bus its students. In response to this request, RUSD sought legal advice from various sources — including its own counsel and Chief Legal Counsel to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) — as to whether the district was legally obliged to provide transportation to Charter One. All agreed that Wisconsin Statute § 121.54 did not require public school districts to transport students of independent charter schools established pursuant to Wisconsin Statute § 118.40(2r). The DPI further concluded that such an interpretation of the statute did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Based on this understanding of Wisconsin law, the RUSD school board, by a vote of 5-4, denied Charter One's request for transportation service in February 2003.

In May 2003, Charter One brought this action against RUSD, asserting that its refusal to bus Charter One students violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court granted RUSD's motion for summary judgment, finding that Charter One students were not "similarly situated" to those students who did receive the RUSD busing benefit, and that RUSD had a rational basis for its decision not to bus Charter One students — namely, avoiding the "unique and additional costs" that such busing would present. Charter One appeals.

II. ANALYSIS

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, construing all facts in favor of the non-moving party. Wyninger v. New Venture Gear, Inc., 361 F.3d 965, 974 (7th Cir.2004).

To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that he or she was (1) deprived of a federal right, privilege, or immunity (2) by any person acting under color of state law. Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 638, 100 S.Ct. 1920, 64 L.Ed.2d 572 (1980) (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1983). The federal right in question here is derived from the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Equal Protection Clause provides that "no State shall ... deny to any persons within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws." U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1. In so providing, "the Equal Protection Clause gives rise to a cause of action on behalf of a `class of one' where the plaintiff did not allege membership in a class or group." Vill. of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073, 145 L.Ed.2d 1060 (2000). "[S]uccessful equal protection claims brought by a `class of one'" have been recognized "where the plaintiff alleges that she has been intentionally treated differently from others similarly situated and that there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment." Olech, 528 U.S. at 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073.

Here, the district court properly construed Charter One's complaint as alleging a class of one equal protection claim. See Olech, 528 U.S. at 564 n. *, 120 S.Ct. 1073 ("Whether the complaint alleges a class of one or of [more] is of no consequence because we conclude that the number of individuals in a class is immaterial for equal protection analysis."). Charter One argues that local government officials within the RUSD denied the school and its students the benefit of busing otherwise provided to all others similarly situated without a rational basis for distinction. Accordingly, we review the merits of Charter One's claim under the Olech standard, examining first whether the plaintiff's students are indeed similarly situated to those students within the RUSD who do receive busing.

A. Charter One Students Are Not Similarly Situated

To be considered "similarly situated," comparators must be "prima facie identical in all relevant respects," Purze v. Vill. of Winthrop Harbor, 286 F.3d 452, 455-56 (7th Cir.2004), or "directly comparable to [plaintiff] in all material respects," Ajayi v. Aramark Bus. Servs., Inc., 336 F.3d 520, 532 (7th Cir.2003). Indeed, "[i]t is clear that similarly situated individuals must be very similar indeed." McDonald, 371 F.3d at 1002. Here, the pertinent comparison must be made between those students within the RUSD who receive busing, and those Charter One students who do not. More accurately, the comparison pits RUSD public and private school students who reside within the RUSD, who live one and one-half miles or more from their school or encounter hazardous conditions along the school route, and who do receive busing, against Charter One students who reside within the RUSD, who live one and one-half miles or more from their school or encounter hazardous conditions along the school route, and who do not receive busing.

But there is some controversy as to whether the comparison should end there. Charter One thinks so, contending that we should look only to — and see patent similarities in — both class' residence and attendance within the district, and their distance from school or their proximity to hazardous conditions along the way. Indeed, if this were all to our comparison, the students of both classes would clearly be similarly situated, as the James family illustrates. Two of the James children attend Charter One, and one attends an RUSD public school. All live in the same house and face the same hazardous condition in getting to school (there is no sidewalk on their road). But while the RUSD student gets free busing, the Charter One students do not.

RUSD, on the other hand, insists that our analysis cannot end with the students themselves, but rather must also account for the differences in the schools that the students of each class attend. Indeed, a student's situation is, at least in part, a product of the school that he or she attends. Various factual traits, circumstantial nuances, and peculiarities can set entities apart, rendering them, by virtue of their differences, amenable to disparate treatment. See, e.g., Bell v. Duperrault, 367 F.3d 703, 708-09 (7th Cir.2004) (finding equal protection class of one plaintiff not similarly situated where the purportedly comparable individuals submitted applications for pier...

To continue reading

Request your trial
111 cases
  • Doe v. Sch. Dist. 214
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
    • 2 Abril 2021
    ...on Doe's equal protection claim. See D.S. , 799 F.3d at 799–800 ; Park , 692 F.3d at 833 ; Racine Charter One, Inc. v. Racine Unified Sch. Dist. , 424 F.3d 677, 680 (7th Cir. 2005) ; McDonald v. Vill. of Winnetka , 371 F.3d 992, 1002, 1005 (7th Cir. ...
  • Lindquist v. City of Pasadena, Tex., Civil Action No. H-06-1975.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas
    • 10 Septiembre 2009
    ...Olech as requiring animus), although subsequent panels have attempted to change course, see Racine Charter One, Inc. v. Racine Unified Sch. District, 424 F.3d 677, 683-84 (7th Cir.2005) (noting competing lines of cases within the circuit and reserving the question). Two courts of appeals ha......
  • Frederickson v. Landeros
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • 26 Noviembre 2019
    ...acted for reasons of personal animus, malice, or some other improper personal motivation, see Racine Charter One, Inc. v. Racine Unified Sch. Dist. , 424 F.3d 677, 683–84 (7th Cir. 2005) (describing the two lines of cases); see also Del Marcelle, 680 F.3d 887, whatever uncertainty exists ma......
  • St. Joan Antida High Sch. Inc. v. Milwaukee Pub. Sch. Dist.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • 25 Marzo 2019
    ...in Wisconsin over the years. See, e.g. , St. Augustine Sch. v. Evers , 906 F.3d 591 (7th Cir. 2018) ; Racine Charter One, Inc. v. Racine Unified Sch. Dist. , 424 F.3d 677 (7th Cir. 2005). This is another. Our focus here is on the Milwaukee Public School District ("MPS"), private schools, an......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT