The Independence School District is ready to go to court on Monday if a Saturday meeting with the Kansas City School District over when Independence takes possession of seven schools in western Independence does not yield a resolution.
Independence Superintendent Jim Hinson announced Thursday afternoon that the district has filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the KC district and the School District of Kansas City Building Corporation. The order would prevent Kansas City from keeping Independence out of the buildings.
Kansas City has not turned over the titles to Independence for the schools and will not let employees begin renovation work until they have the titles. Employees are only allowed to take inventory of equipment inside the school.
The KC district held a special meeting Thursday evening, voting only to hold a closed executive session that lasted nearly an hour and a half. Afterwards, Interim Superintendent John Martin and Maurice Watson, an attorney working for the KC district, gave statements about the district's position.
"We're hoping we can settle all this on Saturday," Martin said. "We feel pretty good about our options; I think both districts want to end this conflict, so we're looking forward to getting together with Independence and making that happen."
According to Watson, the logic behind the district's stance is simple.
"In any other transaction like this, before you transfer the title of the property, you receive compensation and that's the issue the (KC) school district has raised," Watson said. "When you buy a house, do you get the house before you pay the money either directly personally or through some financing arrangement? I've never heard of that."
Independence believes it should be allowed into the buildings based on decisions by a board of arbitration and a circuit judge. The issue at hand is how the titles and money will be transferred, which Hinson said was not determined by the board of arbitration.
“We believe the board of arbitration’s decision is binding and we need to know if the Kansas City School Board plans to abide by that decision or not and if we cannot come to terms on Saturday, then we will be in court on Monday.”
The board of arbitration ruled that the Independence District owes about $13.7 million to Kansas City. The transfer of the property was to take place on Tuesday.
"What the board of arbitration ordered was that those buildings be paid for by Independence, and that's what we're expecting," Watson said. He would not comment whether the district felt the amount determined by the board of arbitration for the seven buildings was adequate.
Kansas City has claimed that letting Independence employees do renovation work would make it liable for any injuries that may occur. Hinson called that argument “bogus,” saying Independence already has insurance covering the schools that are being transferred, which he said began on Tuesday when the schools were to change hands.
“Game playing needs to stop,” Hinson said. “We need an answer: Is the Kansas City School District going to abide by the decision of the board of arbitration or not?”
