Judge Expected to Rule on Price Lab Appeal This Week

As students prepare to head back to school, the fate of one school is still working its way through the courts.

Black Hawk County Senior Judge Alan Pearson heard arguments last week and said he expected to rule sometime this week on an appeal against the closure of Malcolm Price Laboratory School.

Last month, he seeking to block the closure of , a teaching lab connected to . The K-12 school for about 350 students closed on June 30.

This was an appeal of that decision.

Price Lab supporters argued in their lawsuit that the Iowa Board of Regents didn't have authority when it voted to do so in March.

In his original ruling, Pearson said a 2009 state law, which required a pre-K-12 “research and development school” be established and operated at Price Lab within three years, did not preclude the regents from closing the school because the requirement didn't take effect until July 1.

In the appeal motion, Thomas Frerichs, the attorney for the teachers and parents backing the school, accused the regents of "sleight of hand ... (in) effectively closing the research and development school by denying such school the use of the facilities of a closed lab school."

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported reported Iowa Attorney General's Office attorney Tim Vavricek said there is no "recognized procedure" allowing a rehearing in such cases.