FWCS files counterclaim in property dispute

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Legal issues continue to hold up Pleasant Center Elementary School and its transfer of ownership to the Fort Wayne Airport Authority.

Fort Wayne Community Schools filed a counterclaim to a Dec. 2011 lawsuit stopping the transfer .

The counterclaim is asking an Allen County Superior Court judge to make a declaratory judgment. Essentially, FWCS is asking for their rights and for the rights of the IPCSA to be clarified in a court opinion. That would not include a ruling on the actual lawsuit.

In December, the Fort Wayne Community School's Board of Trustees voted to approve the deed transfer of Pleasant Center to the airport authority. The building has been vacant since June 2010, and the airport authority had expressed interest in the property because it fit a part of their master plan.

But as negotiations with the airport authority neared an end, the district received notice that Timothy L. Jackson Academy, a Fort Wayne charter school, wanted the property. According to an FWCS statement, because the district had already reached an agreement, the school board moved forward with the transfer.

That action prompted a lawsuit by the Indiana Public Charter School Association stating that FWCS had violated a new law effective July 1, 2011, stating any vacant building must be listed for 48 months before it can be transferred.

Russ Simnick, president of the IPCSA, told NewsChannel 15 in December, “The law doesn't make a differentiation when it closes. It just says if it was under lease in July 1 of 2011 then it didn't have to go on the list, but if it was vacant then it had to.”

In a statement released Monday, FWCS Superintendent Dr. Wendy Robinson said, "We followed Indiana code in transferring this property to another governmental entity. The airport authority has legitimate interest in this property and one that is important for economic development near the airport. We do not believe state law should allow a request by one entity to trump the interests of all other entities."

The Fort Wayne Airport Authority has tabled a resolution pending the outcome of the lawsuit. Once the FWAA approves its resolution, ownership of the school would be immediate.