Pearl Creek and Dunleavy seek emergency Supreme Court order to open charter school
The Dunleavy administration and advocates of the proposed Pearl Creek charter school are asking the Alaska Supreme Court for an emergency order and to overturn a Fairbanks Superior Court judge to force the school district to allow the charter school to open in August.
Assistant Attorney General Kate Demarest claimed “immediate oversight is the only way to prevent injustice.” The alleged injustice is “permanently and irreparably depriving the Pearl Creek APC and its students of their right to an operational school in 2026-27.”
“The petitioners did everything possible to obtain a superior court enforcement order instructing the District to comply with its legal obligations in time to open the school. After a preliminary injunction hearing Monday, the superior court denied the request yesterday afternoon,” the state and Pearl Creek said.
“As explained in the accompanying Affidavit of Pearl Creek APC Chair Heidi Wood, the District has almost succeeded in running out the clock and preventing the school from open this year, despite having an approved application to do so. Certified classroom teachers must be hired by June 30. A principal must be hired first and must participate in hiring teachers. Both categories of position must be posted for five days,” the filing says.
The proposed school wants to post the principal job and all staff positions on Monday, but can only do so if the Alaska Supreme Court issues an order. It would have to hire teachers by June 30.
The planning committee “has been working diligently and is prepared to open in August, but cannot do so without district cooperation.”
The district has said the charter cannot operate without a contract and there is no contract.
The district argues that there are “significant deficiencies” in the decision by the state school board and it wants to avoid “the disastrous scenario where the district is forced to open the charter school and then close it when it wins this appeal.”
Superintendent Luke Meinert said various services at other schools would have to be eliminated if the charter plan is approved, creating a “significant negative impact” to thousands of students.
Nowhere does the Dunleavy administration of the Pearl Creek Academic Planning Committee take note of what constitutes “justice” for thousands of other students in neighborhood schools.
The state and Pearl Creek continue to claim that it was illegal for the school board to deny the Pearl Creek plan on the grounds that it would have a negative financial impact on the district and that the application did not demonstrate a likelihood of success.
The school district argues that it would be irresponsible for it not to look at the financial impact on the entire district. The school district is correct about this.