Judge: Quinn to remain on board

COEUR d'ALENE - Wanda Quinn will remain in her position on the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees, for now.

In district court Tuesday, Judge Benjamin Simpson denied a pre-trial motion that would have barred the school board from all further action while board chair Quinn remains on the board.

Attorneys representing the district's newest elected trustees, Tom Hamilton and Terri Seymour, filed the request for a preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit filed in July. The suit questions the validity of Quinn's appointment to the board in June.

Hamilton and Seymour are the suit's plaintiffs, and the defendants are the school board.

"The court is unconvinced the plaintiffs are entitled to the extraordinary relief," Simpson said.

Simpson said the court would work to ensure the lawsuit moves as quickly as possible through the system to resolution.

Coeur d'Alene attorney James Bendell, representing Hamilton and Seymour, argued for the injunction, stating that the work of the school board, including budget matters and other student issues, is at risk because Quinn's eligibility as a board member is under question.

Following the judge's decision, attorney Jay Sturgell, who is also representing Hamilton and Seymour, said the decision to file the pre-trial motion was a "necessary and, I think, a predicated step."

The sticking point of the lawsuit is interpretation of Idaho Code regarding school board vacancies.

Quinn was appointed on June 6 to replace Edie Brooks McLachlan, who on May 19 announced her future resignation. The board declared a vacancy at that time. McLachlan initially announced her resignation would be effective June 30, but on June 6, she announced that would be her last day in the position. McLachlan remained on the board throughout the appointment selection period and voted on Quinn's appointment.

Hamilton and Seymour and their lawyers assert that a vacancy did not exist on the board when Quinn was appointed.

Charles Dodson, the school district's attorney for 29 years, is representing the school board, and argues that there is nothing in the statute that precludes the board from declaring and filling a future vacancy.

The education code in question requires that: "A vacancy shall be declared by the board of trustees when any nominee has been elected but has failed to qualify for office, or within 30 days of when any trustee shall (a) die; (b) resign as trustee; (c) remove himself from his trustee zone of residence; (d) no longer be a resident or school district elector of the district; (e) refuse to serve as trustee; (f) without excuse acceptable to the board of trustees, fail to attend four consecutive regular meetings of the board; or (g) be recalled and discharged from office as provided in law."

The code further requires that a vacancy be filled within 90 days of the declaration of the vacancy.

The case will continue to move toward a trial. Another pre-trial motion will likely come before the court in mid-October.