(August 20, 2008)—A hearing is scheduled Thursday in state district court in Waco on suit filed on behalf of a group of Waco residents who are fighting to keep the low-performing G. L. Wiley Middle School open.
The Waco School Board voted 4 to 3 on Aug. 7 to close the school immediately and to transfer students to other schools after G. L. Wiley was rated academically unacceptable for a fifth straight year.
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott had already given the school a one-year waiver to improve, but board members who supported closure cited the school’s declining enrollment and poor test performance.
Gary Bledsoe, a civil rights attorney working with the group said the lawsuit was filed Wednesday afternoon in 170th District Court.
Bledsoe said the lawsuit is, "seeking to maintain the status quo so the good people who live in the Wiley neighborhood can go to school."
It seeks to block the district from closing the school.
Read Lawsuit Affidavit
The suit alleges the Waco ISD violated a number of laws including the Texas Open Meetings Act in deciding the fate of the school.
Bledsoe says the suit also alleges discrimination, and arbitrary and due process violations.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
The suit was filed on the same day the school district was holding open house at all middle schools to give parents generally and the parents of G. L. Wiley students in particular a chance to meet teachers and learn about the schools before classes begin.
The school board decided students from Wiley should be transferred proportionately to Carver Academy, Brazos Middle School and Cesar Chavez PDS Middle School, but parents may seek transfers.
Monday is the first day of the new school year in the Waco ISD.
Waco ISD Web Site
(Eli Ross contributed to this story)