After city school board voted against extension of charter school’s charter, charter school filed a mandamus lawsuit alleging school board had a duty to extend the charter.
The District Court granted school board’s motion for involuntary dismissal. Charter school appealed.
The Court of Appeal held that school board operated within its discretion when it declined to extend the charter for charter school for an optional fifth year.
City school board operated within its discretion when it declined to extend the charter for charter school for an optional fifth year; statute provided that a charter school had an initial term of four years, following the initial four-year term, the charter school’s term “may be extended” to a maximum term of five years, pending a review after the third year, the charter agreement stated the term of agreement was for five years and that “Approval to operate during the fifth year of the initial term shall be contingent upon the results of a review conducted after the completion of the third year as provided for in state statute,” and company that performed an extension review of charter school recommended in its report that the charter not be extended for a fifth year based on unsatisfactory findings in the financial and organizational areas.