Three Phillips County residents and public school advocates filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the LEARNS Act, aiming to stop the Marvell-Elaine School District from being taken over by a charter school group.
On Friday, the state Board of Education approved an agreement to allow Friendship Education Foundation Arkansas, a charter school non-profit, to manage the struggling school district. The board approved the measure using a provision in the LEARNS Act that allows third parties to oversee public schools through a “transformation contract.”
In a complaint filed late Monday afternoon, the plaintiffs argued the LEARNS Act, an education overhaul led by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has not taken effect and that the state Board of Education cannot use the new law to approve a takeover of the school district.
The complaint, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, centers on whether lawmakers needed to approve a separate vote for an emergency clause when they passed the LEARNS Act in March. Under the Arkansas Constitution, laws passed by the General Assembly do not take effect until 90 days after the Legislature formally adjourns.
However, with a two-thirds vote lawmakers can approve an “emergency clause” when voting on a bill, which allows legislation to take effect immediately.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs argued since lawmakers did not take a separate vote on an emergency clause for the LEARNS Act the law is not yet in effect.
“Therefore, the Emergency Clause in the Arkansas LEARNS Act is invalid and ineffective, meaning that the law is not yet operable in Arkansas, and it cannot provide the Board or Secretary any legal authority to enter into a “transformation contract” regarding the Marvell-Elaine School District,” according to the complaint.
However, Cecillea Pond-Mayo, a spokeswoman fro the Arkansas House of Representatives, said the chamber has discretion in how it logs its votes for emergency clauses.
"Emergency clause votes are recorded separately in the House Journal," Pond-Mayo said in a statement Friday. "Voting in the House is a matter of process which the House has the authority to determine."