Appeal to Keep Price Lab Open Thrown Out

The building may have been torn down, but a legal battle to keep Malcolm Price Laboratory School open was still making its way through the courts, until now.

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the plaintiffs, a group of Price Lab parents and community members, had missed a 30-day deadline to appeal the district court's judgement.

The school, which was closed last year as part of sweeping budget cuts at the University of Northern Iowa, was recently demolished.

A judge ruled in June 2012 against the parents group, who had argued the Iowa Board of Regents did not have legal authority to close the school. The plaintiffs petitioned for a rehearing, which was denied in July 2012. In August 2012, they filed an appeal.

Though the parents group filed their appeal within 30 days of the denial of their petition for a rehearing, they did not file within 30 days of the original ruling, the Court of Appeals said.