The North Shore School District 112 has been hit with a civil lawsuit that seeks to enjoin the implementation of its “BDR3” plan that would result in the closure of four facilities, teacher layoffs, and student reassignment.

The Nov. 18 filing in Lake County’s 19th Judicial Circuit Court also alleges the district has misrepresented its financial condition, as a precursor to the move.

Highland Park resident Sarah Ludington is listed as the plaintiff in the legal document, obtained by the Chronicle, and filed on behalf of her 12-year-old daughter, a special needs student. It requests that an injunction be granted to halt the “budget deficit reduction” plan and that the district adhere to its mandate of maintaining its operations, as directed by the Illinois Board of Education.

Any other directives of financial insolvency would normally correlate to the state addressing the matter and placing the district on a “financial watch list,” which has not occurred. The filing requests that should the court refuse the injunction, then the state should be allowed to “step in” to provide oversight for the district’s finances. The suit also contains attached support documentation outlining the school district’s budget for several years, detailing expenditures and revenues.

“There was an injunction filed against the district concerning the school closures, and there were certain claims within the injunction,” said Nicholas Glenn, the district’s Communication Director. “There was an arbitrary mid-February date for a hearing, should no one get back to the judge regarding the filing. The injunction has not stopped the status of the actions, which are slated to take place in the next school year.”

The lawsuit highlights the district’s school board voted 4-3 in February, in approving the closures of Ravinia, Elm Place, and Lincoln schools, along with the Green Bay Early Childhood Center, contingent on a negative outcome on a $198 building referendum question placed before voters on the March 15 primary ballot.

The referendum failed by a 9,781-4,643 vote, equating to 67.81 percent against the measure. The district sought the funding as an authorization to borrow monies to construct a new middle school to house fifth- to eighth-grade students, while using additional funds for upgrades at six other school facilities in its physical holdings.

The district had stipulated the BDR3 plan as its back-up course of action that would involve the mass teacher layoffs, and the closures of the four schools. The “3” in the “BDR3” anagram indicates the third round of budget reduction initiatives in the last several years. The lawsuit names the district, the district’s School board, and district superintendent and board secretary Michael Bregy.

The lawsuit contends the misrepresentation of district finances as incurring a “deficit reduction” status is not met by state standards, not substantiated by the attached budgetary documentations, and the board action on the school closures was a willful attempt to cozen voters into passing the referendum question.

“This is a school district that has the funding and resources, yet they are creating this impression of being in a deficit reduction situation,” said Chicago-based attorney Steven Verr, in a phone call. “I represent Ms. (Sarah) Ludington is this action, and will have no further comment until such time as it’s deemed appropriate.”

Records at the Lake County Circuit Clerk’s Office show that a Feb. 16 conference has been slated on the injunction and other particulars.

— Parent files lawsuit against Highland Park Schools regarding budget cuts —