Carmel Clay Schools did not violate state law by refusing to sell building to charter school, court rules

(Adobe Stock photo)

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a ruling Wednesday that Carmel Clay Schools did not violate Indiana’s “dollar law” when it closed an elementary school and refused to sell the building to a charter school.

In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly first approved a law that required a school corporation, under certain circumstances, to either lease an unused school building to a charter school for one dollar per year or to sell the school building to the charter school for one dollar.

Since then, the dollar statute has been amended several times.

In 2018, Carmel Clay approved the construction of a new Orchard Park Elementary School building and decided that the students wouldn’t be moved to the new location until 2021.

Carmel Clay used the old location for storage space for the school district.

In 2021, counsel for Carmel Clay contacted the Indiana Attorney General’s Office to ask about the impact of the requirements under the dollar law. The AG’s Office confirmed that the school district’s 2021 decision to explore a joint use of the school building did not trigger any further action by Carmel Clay.

A few months later, Indiana Classical filed a complaint with the AG’s Office claiming Carmel Clay failed to comply with the requirements of the dollar law.

The Hamilton Superior Court ruled in Carmel Clay’s favor, granting summary judgment. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld that ruling.

“Under the plain language of those applicable statutory provisions … Carmel Clay was neither required to make available the School Building to Indiana Classical nor to provide notice to the Department of Education,” Judge Rudolph Pyle wrote in a decision for the three-judge appellate panel.

Judges Nancy Vaidik and Paul Mathias concurred in Indiana Classical Schools Corp. v. Carmel Clay School Board of Trustees, 23A-PL-840