Oregon Connections Academy v. Scio. Sch. Dist. 95C

Under ORS 338.065(5)(e), an “expiring charter shall remain in effect until a new charter is negotiated” only where necessary to avoid an interruption in service.

Plaintiff (a charter school) brought an action under ORS 28.010, seeking a declaration that the 2013 amendment to ORS 338.065(5)(e), does not arbitrarily bind a charter school to an “expiring charter” with a school district for failure to negotiate that charter’s renewal. Defendant counterclaimed and argued a school district’s approval of a charter school’s renewal request triggers a mandatory period of negotiation, and the 2013 amendment requires the existing (“expiring”) charter to “remain in effect until a new charter is negotiated.” The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment holding that the language of ORS 338.065(5)(e) is “operative only where necessary to avoid an interruption in service and has no application where the parties abandoned their negotiations long before the expiration date of the existing charter.” Defendant appealed. The Court affirmed because the plain meaning, statutory context, and legislative history all supported the trial court’s statutory construction of ORS 338.065(5)(e). Affirmed.