Lawsuit to reopen schools dismissed

3 Chester County districts are impacted

WEST CHESTER » The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has dismissed a petition filed on behalf of parents of students in the Unionville-Chadds Ford, Downingtown, West Chester school districts and others by Open PA Schools to reopen schools.

Open PA Schools is an unincorporated association consisting of over 100 parents of children attending public schools throughout Pennsylvania. The association filed the lawsuit on Sept. 8, 2020, against the Pennsylvania Department of Education, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera, Central Bucks School District, Downingtown Area School District, Oley Valley

School District, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Perkiomen Valley School District, Great Valley School District, and West Chester Area School District, challenging the decision not to open schools to in-person learning five days a week for all students. Oral arguments were presented virtually this past November.

The court dismissed the petition late last week, upholding arguments made by the Department of Education and the school dis

tricts that Open PA Schools parents did not have “standing” to sue. The court concluded the petitioners did not state sufficient facts from which the court could conclude that they had sustained any harm or were aggrieved by the actions of the school districts’ and the Department of Education.

A report on remote learning impacts found that mi

nority and low-income students were disproportionately impacted by remote learning and that students overall were failing more classes. For example, according to the lawsuit, almost 9 percent of ninth grade students in West Chester are failing two or more classes, an increase of 850 percent over last school year. Also in West Chester, 26 percent of ninth grade minority students are failing two or more classes. The number of Middle School students failing English and Math is up over 300 percent in West Chester, compared to last school year.

And in grades 6 to 12 in Downingtown, 13 percent are failing one or more classes, an increase from last year at 7 percent. Overall, Downingtown School District absences are up 60 percent from last school year, according to the report.

The court’s decision leaves open the possibility that the petition for declaratory relief could be amended within 30 days so that the petitioners could set forth additional facts that might demonstrate the necessary “standing” that would allow the Court to proceed with the case.

If Open PA Schools does not file an amended petition within 30 days, the case is over. If they do, the schools and the Department of Education will again have the opportunity to challenge the filing. Alternatively, Open PA Schools could appeal the Commonwealth Court’s decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

SUBMITTED PHOTO A lawsuit to reopen schools during a pandemic was dismissed by Commonwealth Court, impacting West Chester, UnionvilleChadds Ford and Downingtown schools.