Attorney threatens lawsuit if district asks voters to decide Robert E. Lee elementary name

A school district in northeastern Washington faces a potential lawsuit if it moves forward with a plan to put ask voters whether to rename a controversial elementary school.

The Eastmont School District in Wenatchee approved a proposal to leave the decision on the name of Robert E. Lee Elementary up to the public in the 2018 November election. In a letter to the district, acquired by our news partners at KPQ, attorney John Brangwin threatened to sue, stating that putting the issue on the ballot is illegal.

"In essence, the voters elect school district board members to make these kind of decisions, and so the Eastmont School Board needs to make these decisions. They can not punt that, they lack the legal authority to move that decision to a decision of the voters," says Brangwin.

Brangwin says it’s not only illegal but wasteful because any public vote would not be binding.  Brangwin said the board “would be spending school district money to take a popularity poll” and could ignore the  results whether the public voted to change the name or not.

Superintendent Garn Christensen says he verified Brangwin’s argument with Douglas County prosecuting attorney Steven Clem to see if that was true.

Christensen says he will also reintroduce to the board a proposal he made earlier to drop the “Robert E.”and rename the school Lee Elementary.

The Eastmont School Board meets Monday, January 8th at 5:30 p.m. at Grant Elementary School, 1430 First St. S.E., East Wenatchee.