NORTHAMPTON – Thursday in Hampshire Superior Court, Judge Bertha D. Josephson heard a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and injunction on Worthington’s withdrawal from the Gateway Regional School District.
The motion to dismiss was brought by the town of Worthington and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, both of whom are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The motion to dismiss asserted that the plaintiffs had no standing, and no legal basis.
According to Gateway Regional Superintendent David B. Hopson, “our team did a nice job of presenting.”
The team Hopson was referring to are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit: Gateway Regional School Committee represented by Attorney Russell Dupere, the town of Huntington represented by Attorney James Lampke, and Ruth Kennedy and Derrick Mason of Russell representing themselves pro se.
Both Blandford and Chester have voted for changes in their bylaws that will allow them to join the suit as plaintiffs and to share the legal fees of an attorney with the other towns. The lawsuit is being amended to include both towns, but this process was not complete as of Thursday’s hearing.
Hopson said the Commonwealth took 15-20 minutes for their argument to dismiss, as did the town of Worthington.
“Our side spent 40-50 minutes on why we had a case,” he said.
Hopson said that Kennedy and Mason did a very nice job of presenting why they should have standing, and why the suit should move forward.
“They put a human touch on why the judge should rule in our favor,” he said.
“I felt that we went in with a good case, a good argument,” siad Lampke, who is a member of the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association and has an office in Hingham.
He said the basis of the lawsuit is that the action of the legislature that allowed Worthington to leave is in violation of the contract law, because it impairs an existing contract. The contract in this case is the Gateway School District regional agreement. Lampke said this is a matter of constitutional law: “No state shall pass a law impairing contracts.”
He said the action also goes against home rule law, because it goes against the interests of six towns and the school district. Lampke said under home rule, there are limitations as to what the legislature may do. The state can enact general laws in which everyone is treated alike. In this case, Worthington was singled out for preferential treatment.
In addition, there are breach of contract issues, and a local mandates issue resulting in additional costs to the remaining six towns that the legislature hasn’t funded. Under local mandates protection, the state can’t impose a financial burden on towns unless they provide funding for it.
Lampke added that the action “defies logic and good policy.” He said it calls into question every regional school district agreement, and inter-municipal agreement.
Lampke said that Russell Dupere, Gateway’s attorney, also made a very salient point in the hearing, by saying all that the district is looking for is fairness.
Judge Josephson has taken the matter under advisement, and will return with a written decision. Both Hopson and Lampke said they don’t expect to hear back for several weeks.
