A group of school districts larger than the Deer/Mount Judea district in Newton County will not be allowed to join the small district's funding and adequacy lawsuit against the state.
The Northwest Arkansas districts of Alma, Greenwood, Van Buren and Fort Smith -- which have from 3,000 students to nearly 15,000 -- filed in February to intervene in the case. The Deer/Mount Judea district has about 400 students.
In June, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza denied the larger districts' attempt to join the suit, citing the differences in size and issues that the districts face.
The larger districts appealed to the Supreme Court that month. Fort Smith attorneys argued that the lower court erred in its ruling, saying the case could ultimately have an impact on the Fort Smith district and other districts across the state.
On Thursday, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the case involving Deer/Mount Judea was not a class-action suit and that Fort Smith and other districts waited too long, nearly three years, to file to be considered interested parties in it.
The high court didn't consider any of the other arguments that the larger districts made before the court.
Metro on 11/21/2014