Freeborn & Peters LLP, lead by Partner Michael J. Scotti, III, successfully defended the Board of Education for the Indian Prairie School District 204 in Naperville, Illinois against a high-profile lawsuit filed by a group of District voters which identified themselves as Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, Inc. On Thursday, May 29, 2008, DuPage County Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy granted the motion to dismiss, with prejudice, seven separate claims, including abuse of taxpayer funds, violation of voting rights under the Illinois and U.S. constitutions, violation of the Illinois School Code, equitable estoppel and Open Meetings Act violations. This lawsuit was won, from start to finish, in fewer than four months.
The case hinged on the district’s right to build its third high school in a location other than that identified prior to a 2006 referendum, which authorized $127.4 million in funding for the school. However, with a jury ruling the price of that land higher than anticipated, the district turned to an alternate, less expensive, location. In his written decision, Judge Popejoy stated that the district had the right to determine the future site of the high school, not the residents. He also noted that the attorneys did an “outstanding job” isolating, briefing and arguing the legal issues at hand.
Michael Scotti was quoted in the May 29, 2008 Daily Herald article, “Lawsuit over Metea Valley spending tossed,” in response to this significant ruling. “This was a clear and absolute victory for the district and that is rare to come at such an early stage in a case like this. . . This completely vindicates the board and proves that they were, at all times, acting within the powers granted to them by the Illinois school code.”
The Freeborn & Peters team included attorneys David L. Ter Molen and Jill C. Anderson.
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