Price Lab Parents Planning Lawsuit, Hope To Stay Board of Regents Decision

A group of parents of children at Malcolm Price Laboratory School plan to file a lawsuit to stay the decision of the Iowa Board of Regents to close the school.

Parent Aaron Hawbaker made the announcement during a 7 p.m. informational meeting for Price Lab parents. He said the lawsuit would be filed in Black Hawk County court on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

"This is a simple legal argument. When the Research and Development School was created, did the Iowa legislature say to the Board of Regents, you can open, you can close? I think the answer is no," he said. "Somewhere along the line the decision was made they didn’t have to follow that rule, and that’s what we’re going to bring before the courts."

Some have said the Board of Regents has the authority to close the school. Others, however, have argued the school can only be closed by an act of the Iowa legislature.

Both sides have been waiting for an opinion from the state Attorney General's office on the matter.

Hawbaker said the lawsuit would examine the issue along the same lines of the Attorney General, but, he believed, would supersede the Attorney General's opinion.

"We get it in front of a judge and hope they do what we think is right," he said.

He said the parents were hoping for an expedited decision. He also acknowledged things might not turn out the way the parents hope.

"The best possible outcome is the school stays open and we’re funded," he said. "Right now though, its one of those things where we have to be running at the wall and hope those results are good.”