Maine School Administrative District No. 37 v. Pineo
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · 2010-02-18 · cited 15×
The case involved selectmen in two Maine towns who refused to countersign and post warrants for referenda on closing local elementary schools in MSAD 37, arguing that the school board's majority vote failed to satisfy the two-thirds supermajority requirement of 20-A M.R.S. § 1511 applicable to regional school units. MSAD 37 filed an action seeking a preliminary injunction to compel compliance with 20-A M.R.S. § 1352, which the Superior Court granted on the ground that signing the warrants was a ministerial duty with no room for discretion; the court later denied a motion to stay the injunction. On appeal, the Law Court affirmed, concluding that MSAD 37 had not yet reorganized into a regional school unit and thus the supermajority rule did not apply, and that the selectmen had no authority to refuse to act on properly prepared warrants. Although the elections had already occurred and the appeal was technically moot, the court addressed the issues under the public-interest exception to mootness.