When Ramsey Council Member Matt Look's son was selected to attend kindergarten next fall at the charter school of the family's choice, Look was delighted -- but not enough to dismiss his lawsuit against the school.
"This is not about our child," Look said last week. "We're fighting for the city."
Look is suing the PACT charter school in Ramsey and has contested the wording in a state law that says if a charter school is the only school in town that offers a specific grade level, residents of that town get preference.
Ramsey has no school that offers kindergarten or grades 6 through 12; PACT covers grades kindergarten through 12. But the PACT school's administrator told Look that Ramsey is a city, not a town, so the law doesn't apply.
The state Legislature recently passed language on a statute changing the word "town" to "municipality." That would appear to make Look's suit moot, pending the governor's approval of the statute's wording, and PACT wants Look's suit dismissed.
But there is also the matter of PACT school siblings having preference over Ramsey residents applying for admission.
Of the estimated 156 applicants for kindergarten spots, only 36 names will be accepted -- many of them through a lottery.
But the odds of acceptance are far less than 1 in 3. Twenty-six of those children are siblings of PACT students -- and under current rules, those students are given preference over Ramsey residents.
None of the families will be notified until after Look's lawsuit is decided. But PACT administrator Dan DeBruyn said Friday that while other families await a decision, Look had indeed been notified -- unofficially -- of his son's acceptance, via e-mail.
"We haven't notified anyone because we ran the lottery two ways, and we're waiting for a judge to tell us which lottery is valid," DeBruyn said.
One lottery's a winner
Look's child was chosen under both lottery systems, DeBruyn said. One lottery was done under PACT's current policy. The other lottery treats Ramsey residents and the sibling of PACT students equally, DeBruyn said.
That's the lottery that Look would prefer. He says PACT, which stands for Parents Allied with Children and Teachers, should not give preference to siblings of enrolled students.
"I'm assuming everything's on the up and up," Look said, referring to his son's selection. "But once my child got in, they moved for dismissal [of the lawsuit]. We're fighting about that dismissal."
John Dehen, an attorney representing Look, is also a City Council member. He, too, said he raised his eyebrows when Look was notified of his son's selection.
"The odds of getting in are, what? Only 6 or 7 percent?" Dehen asked. "I don't think the Timberwolves have been very lucky and those are the odds they usually face entering the draft.
"We're claiming that even though [Look's] child got in, the claim is not moot. We want the school to be forced to give every applicant an equal chance."
The Minnesota Department of Education and the legislator who introduced the "town" language several years ago said there was never meant to be a distinction between "town" and "city."
Dehen said that legislator, former Sen. Tom Neuville, now a Rice County judge, said town was to mean "a place where people live."
"That the school would contest this and force litigation that you and I are paying for is tragic," Dehen said. "It's a waste of money that could be saved by giving every applicant the same chance."
Paul Levy • 612-673-4419
