Plaintiff, Orleans Parish School Board (“OPSB”), filed a petition seeking injunctive and declaratory relief. The Louisiana Department of Education (“DOE”), the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (“BESE”), and John White, in his capacity as Superintendent of Education, were all named as defendants. According to the petitions, OPSB alleged that the defendants were exceeding their constitutional authority by retaining control over non-failing OPSB schools that had been transferred from the jurisdiction of the OPSB to the BESE administered Recovery School District (the “RSD”). OPSB sought a judgment declaring that the attempts by the defendants to retain control over non-failing OPSB schools or otherwise interfere with the business affairs of the OPSB exceeded the constitutional and statutory limits of their authority. More specifically, OPSB requested that the trial court issue a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from acting in violation of their constitutional authority.
The trial court denied the OPSB’s requests for injunctive relief and declaratory judgment and the appeals court affirmed.