Burlingame Citizens for Neighborhood Schools v. Board of Trustees of Burlingame Elementary School District

In this action for declaratory and injunctive relief, damages, and mandate, Burlingame Citizens for Neighborhood Schools (appellant), an unincorporated association, challenged the decision of respondents, Burlingame Elementary School District (district), to close certain schools. The appeal is from the judgment of dismissal entered on an order granting the district’s motion for summary judgment.

*404 The gist of appellant’s complaint, which relies entirely 1 on Education Code section 39384, 2 is that: (1) before a decision is made to close a school, section 39384 must be complied with; and (2) its requirement of “community involvement” was not met.

The problem with this challenge to the power of the district to close schools unless and until there has been compliance with section *405 39384 is that the statute does not purport to regulate or to set preconditions on decisions to close schools. Instead, its entire thrust is a concern with involvement of the district-wide community in decisions relating to the use or disposition of excess school property. The only portion of section 39384 which refers in any manner to “school closure” is subdivision (b): “It is the intent…