Judge Joseph Lorigo had temporarily reinstated King Center Charter School’s three terminated administrators, and then reversed that decision a day later. He ordered both sides into court Thursday morning to further argue their positions.
Jennifer Schwartzott, attorney for King Center Charter School, argued the school’s board of trustees did not terminate the administrators, they just chose to not extend their expiring contracts.
"Once a term ends, it ends, if a party continues to work there, they would be at will, and their contract is over," she said in court.
Schwartzott also argued that the dispute between the board of trustees and the administrators is not for a court to handle and should be handled by the State University of New York (SUNY) Board.
"When parties have availed themselves of an administrative process that exists, they can't then go into court and ask for the same thing, which is exactly what has happened here," argued Schwartzott. "So we would argue that it would be inappropriate for the court, for the petitioners to ask you to rule in this way until there's an administrative decision."
Gregory Zinni representing the terminated administrators, argued the King Center Charter board’s actions to not renew the contracts was a decision they did not have the power to make.
“If the board simply chose not to extend the one year employment contracts, is that an action of the board?," questioned Lorigo.
"It's a decision of the board, and that's acknowledged in paragraphs 21 through 23 of Ms. Colston's affirmation submitted on behalf of respondents," Zinni answered in court. "The board made these decisions, not an individual acting in an executive capacity, not an officer the board.”
Zinni argued the situation surrounding King Center could have implications on the school's future.
“We've got a board of directors not acting in compliance with its bylaws, therefore not acting in compliance with New York state law," he said. "It's a real danger that SUNY could pull King Center Charter [School's] charter.”
Lorigo did not give a decision Thursday morning, instead choosing to reserve that for a later date. If Lorigo chooses to restore the previous preliminary injunction it will reinstate the terminated administrators to their positions, with a tentative hearing scheduled for Oct 8 and 9.
