BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
MONROE -- A group of parents who want to split from the Middletown - Monroe Schools are determined to move ahead despite setbacks.
Last week, a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge dismissed an appeal of a Dec. 9 split decision by the state school board to reject the parents' petition to form their own school district.
The state board voted 12-6 not to allow the group to create a new district by taking parts of the Middletown - Monroe and Lebanon schools that are in Monroe. The split is opposed by the Middletown - Monroe and Lebanon boards of education.
"I'm disappointed the judge turned down our appeal," said Suzi Rubin, spokeswoman for the Committee on Reviewing Education. "It was not dismissed on its merits but on jurisdiction."
In her decision, Judge Deborah O'Neill said the common pleas court did not have jurisdiction over the matter because the state board issued a discretionary decision rather than an adjudication order in the case.
Mrs. Rubin said attorneys for the Committee on Reviewing Education are reviewing the decision to see whether the group should appeal the dismissal or pursue other options. A scheduled hearing Wednesday on the issue has been canceled. "We won't abandon this effort until we get it to the voters," Mrs. Rubin said.
The Butler County Board of Elections refused to put the matter on the May ballot after county lawyers said there was no basis in law for the initiative. About 1,000 petitions for the ballot issue had been gathered by Committee on Reviewing Education members, Mrs. Rubin said.
Group members have cited a lack of representation by Monroe on the school board as a frustration.
They also claim Monroe residents vote in favor of school levies, but Middletown voters are reluctant to raise taxes.
The group says that if Monroe had its own district, it could better address problems in a 1995 school study that said Lemon-Monroe High School was a substandard facility that had been poorly maintained.
