COURT OF APPEAL RULES IN FAVOR OF ROWLAND UNIFIED IN “DISTRICT OF CHOICE” LEGAL DISPUTE
ROWLAND HEIGHTS, CA – JANUARY 28, 2011 – The Court of Appeal for the State of California has ruled in favor of Rowland Unified in a lawsuit between Rowland Unified School District and Walnut Valley Unified regarding interpretation of the “District of Choice” (DOC) student transfer law. The Court of Appeal upheld the Los Angeles Superior Court’s legal interpretation that a 10 percent cap on outbound student transfers from Rowland has been reached. The decision also means that Walnut Valley Unified must pay $100, 000 in attorney fees to Rowland Unified. The court decision affirms the cap, resulting in no further DOC student transfers to Walnut Valley Unified.
“I want to thank our Board of Education for their courage to tackle this difficult issue on behalf of the children, parents and community,” said Rowland Superintendent Dr. Maria Ott. “We are pleased with the decision because it affirms that Rowland's interpretation of the District of Choice law was correct, and we are grateful that both the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal ruled in our favor. Now it is time to move forward and put this difficult situation behind us."
The Rowland Unified School District is proud to serve 16,000 students at 21 elementary and secondary schools in the communities of Rowland Heights, Walnut, La Puente, City of Industry, and West Covina. More than 5,000 adults (16+) are also served by the Rowland Adult and Community Education School. Rowland Unified has four National Blue Ribbon Schools, 16 California Distinguished Schools, and both Rowland and Nogales High Schools offer the prestigious International Baccalaureate Program and award-winning Career Pathway Certificate Program. The District also features the innovative “Apple One to One Laptop Learning Program” at four schools. For further information about Rowland Unified schools and programs, please visit www.RowlandSchools.org or call (626) 965-2541.
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