Court Hearing on Bullis Facilities Postponed to Aug. 30

The much-awaited court hearing on Bullis Charter School facilities has been postponed from this Wednesday to Thursday, Aug. 30.

Attorneys for both BCS and the Los Altos School District said the reason was likely related to the voluminous filings that have been made in the case lately, which include not only those of the parties, but also three amicus curiae, or friend of the court applications, and accompanying briefs, many declarations, and related filings.

“I’m disappointed,” said Bullis attorney Arturo González, who added that he was ready to argue the reason why the court should compel the school district to comply with Prop. 39 per the October 2011 state Court of Appeal ruling.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Lucas has a reputation for being well-prepared and reads every thing ahead of time, González said, acknowledging that there had been “a lot of paper” filed in recent days, and a postponement would allow her to be well-versed.

“I'd rather she take the time and do all the reading,” said Los Altos School Board Trustee Doug Smith  “There was a lot of material submitted.”

The new court hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in San Jose Superior Court.

Indeed, there has been a lot of “paper” filed. In recent weeks, , along with accompanying briefs, arguing points that each group believed were important for the judge to know and were different from points raised by BCS or LASD.

A parent non-profit group called the . There were several declarations that accompanied the alliance’s filing. That was followed by two more amicus applications from the statewide organizations, the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the Califoria School Boards Association (CSBA).

Bullis Charter School also filed additional actions. Bullis filed responses to the LASD response, several declarations and exhibits. It filed a motion for attorneys’ fees of $1,304,109 from the past three years, on the grounds that its action has “resulted in an important right affecting the public interest.” The California Charter Schools Association filed a declaration supporting the motion for attorneys fees. Bullis also objected to the amicus applications on the grounds that they did not bring any additional arguments to add that the school district was not already arguing, and that they were without merit. 

Gonzalez said that the afternoon hearing time probably reflects the judge's preference to hear her morning cases, then spend extended time on the several topics and lengthy arguments in the the Bullis-LASD dispute.