LITTLE ROCK — A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a group’s challenge to the state’s decision to merge the Weiner School District with a neighboring district.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis affirmed a judge’s ruling dismissing a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Jonesboro by Friends of the Weiner School District, a group opposed to the merger of Weiner with the Harrisburg district.
The state Board of Education ordered the consolidation last year because of Weiner’s dwindling enrollment. Under Act 60 of 2003, an Arkansas public school district that falls below 350 students for two consecutive years is subject to mandatory consolidation.
The plaintiffs alleged that Act 60 targets small, rural schools for closure, thereby violating the constitutional right of all students to an equal opportunity for a free education and threatening agriculture, which the group said is “the first line of defense against agroterrorism.”
U.S. District Judge James M. Moody dismissed the lawsuit in November, saying the group could not prove its claims. The 8th Circuit said Thursday it was affirming the dismissal “for the reasons stated by the district court” and offered no further explanation.