Appellate court allows Grayslake charter school to stay open
Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake scored a legal victory Thursday with an appellate court ruling that reverses a lower court's decision that would have forced it to close.
"We are very pleased with the appellate court's order," Prairie Crossing Executive Director Geoff Deigan said. "We are anxious to put this in our rearview mirror. We have spent a considerable amount of (financial) resources defending our right to exist as a choice of public education in Lake County."
Deigan said he hopes the appellate decision ends its litigation with Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 and that the charter school will continue until it's up for renewal after the 2018-19 school year.
District 50 went to court in 2014 in an effort to overturn a state commission's decision granting Prairie Crossing another charter, allowing it to operate through 2018-19.
In March, Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Allen sided with District 50, ruling the state agency erred in its decision.
However, the First District Appellate Court released an order late Thursday afternoon overturning Allen's ruling. The appellate justices found the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to review the state charter commission's decision to renew Prairie Crossing's charter.
Woodland now has 21 days to ask for a rehearing before the appellate court, or 35 days to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take on the case.
School board President Chris Schrantz said officials will need to discuss the appellate decision with district attorneys and "go from here."
District 50 alleged that Prairie Crossing should not have been allowed to stay open because it violated its last five-year charter approval in 2009 by not increasing student diversity as directed.
Open since 1999, Prairie Crossing has had an environmentally focused curriculum that includes outdoor teaching and trash-free lunches. The 432-student capacity school is within the borders of District 50 and Fremont Elementary District 79 in the Mundelein area.
Children in districts 50 and 79 may attend Prairie Crossing, which determines enrollment by lottery. While most of Prairie Crossing's children come from District 50, both districts lodged objections with the state before the charter school opened, in part due to funding requirements.
Documents show District 50 was required to divert $2.8 million in state aid to pay for 309 children who enrolled at Prairie Crossing in the 2013-14 academic year. District 79 shipped $779,516 for 79 children who chose to attend Prairie Crossing.
District 50 named the state charter school commission, Prairie Crossing and the Illinois State Board of Education in the complaint filed in May 2014.