Parents join Kalamazoo district’s plan to sue Michigan

Several parents are joining a planned lawsuit against Michigan’s School Reform Office over its threats to close low-performing Kalamazoo schools.

Kalamazoo Public Schools and nine parents say the state office lacks the legal authority to determine if schools should close.

Superintendent Michael Rice tells the Kalamazoo Gazette he plans to file the lawsuit this week in the Michigan Court of Claims.

The district school board gave Rice authorization last week to sue the state office for its threat to close two of Kalamazoo’s elementary schools.

Parent Brianna Wolverton plans to join that suit. Her son attends one of schools the Michigan office says are at risk of closure due to poor performance.

Wolverton says her son is thriving and “the school is not a failure at all.”  (AP)