Walnut Valley Unified School District v. Superior Court

Defendants and petitioners Walnut Valley Unified School District and the Board of Education of the Walnut Valley Unified School District (collectively, Walnut), seek a writ of mandate directing respondent superior court to vacate its order granting a petition for peremptory writ of mandate and/or prohibition (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 1085, 1102) brought by plaintiff and real party in interest Rowland Unified School District (Rowland) and to enter a new order denying Rowland’s petition.

The trial court’s ruling precluded Walnut from enrolling for the 2010-2011 school year any students residing within Rowland’s boundaries pursuant to the “District of Choice” program. (Ed. Code, § 48300 et seq.)

*237 This is a dispute between two school districts which are competing for students and for the funding those students would bring to the district in which they are enrolled. The District of Choice program (added by Stats. 1993, ch. 160, p. 1445; former § 48209 et seq.), authorizes a school district to declare itself a “ ‘[sjchool district of choice’ ” which accepts incoming students who seek to transfer from a “ ‘[s]chool district of residence.’ ” (§ 48300.)

Walnut, which has…