A new federal lawsuit seeks to remove state control from the Gary Community School Corp. and return it to a locally elected body.
Gary attorney Tracy Coleman filed the lawsuit Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court in Hammond on behalf of plaintiffs Larona Carter and Nyeletha Byrd, both of Gary.
The 19-page lawsuit argued the district’s 2020 successful $72.1 eight-year referendum violated the state’s constitution.
Coleman alleged the defendants, the state Distressed Unit Appeal Board and the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, weren’t authorized by state law to place the referendum on the ballot.
Coleman said the DUAB didn’t allow the plaintiffs to express their views on the referendum during forums, violating their free speech rights.
The state took over operation of the Gary school district in 2017 along with a district in Muncie. In Gary, it appointed an emergency manager, citing the district’s $22 million budget deficit and $75 million in long-term debt.
A state law removed governing authority from the elected Gary school board and vested it to the emergency manager overseen by the DUAB. Muncie continued to function with its elected school board, Coleman stated.
The Gary district was a victim of state laws that drained money from its budget, Coleman said.
She cited laws creating charter schools and a measure that allowed Lake County industries to pay reduced property taxes along with the authorization of permanent property tax caps.
Further, a state education official removed Roosevelt High School in 2012 from the district’s governance and shifted it to a private company after the school posted 10 straight years of failing grades. The move cost the district more revenue, Coleman said.
She said Gary wasn’t the only school district which had debt as a result of private loans and Common School Fund loans and that school districts aren’t allowed to file for bankruptcy.
Because of the violations against Byrd and Carter’s rights, Coleman sought a declaratory judgment alleging the state law designating Gary as a distressed district and delegating authority to an emergency manager violates the state constitution because of unequal treatment.
The lawsuit asked for an order removing the DUAB from decision-making on the spending of Gary tax money. It also seeks an election as soon as possible so citizens can elect a governing body with full authority to hire a superintendent and manage the district’s resources.
The suit stated the election board should be required to determine if a governing body exists before placing a public question on the ballot.
A Gary school official had no comment on the litigation.
Last year, Gary school advisory board president Robert Buggs and Carter filed a lawsuit contesting the emergency manager didn’t have the authority to hold a referendum.
A federal judge, however, sent the case back to the Lake County election board where it’s still pending.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
