Opinion ID: 1205046
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Scope of remedial order.

Text: In orders dated April 29, 1991, and May 2, 1991, the trial court directed the State, the SPI, and the Controller to ensure by whatever means they deem appropriate that District students would receive their educational rights; both orders made clear that [h]ow these defendants accomplish this is up to the discretion of defendants.... When no other State official proposed a solution, the SPI and the Controller, on May 2, 1991, offered a conditional loan plan for approval by the court. After a hearing on that day, the court found that $19 million in aid funds proposed by the SPI and the Controller were presently available, and the court authorized the Controller to apportion such funds as an emergency loan to the District. The court further determined that, given the State's obligation to provide an equal education, the SPI's statutory authority to [s]uperintend the schools of this state (ง 33112, subd. (a)), and the unique emergency circumstances, the [SPI] ... has authority to relieve the [Board] of its legal duties and powers, appoint a trustee, develop a recovery plan and, subject to the approval of the Controller, [develop] a repayment plan on the [D]istrict's behalf as necessary to ensure the operation of the schools through June 14, 1991, the financial recovery of the [D]istrict, and the protection of State funds loaned to the [D]istrict. (7a) The State and several amici curiae contend that even if the trial court could require State intervention to prevent violation of the District students' constitutional rights, there was no legal or equitable basis for the court's order authorizing the SPI to displace the Board, operate the District through his own administrator, and impose a plan for the District's permanent financial recovery. Under the circumstances presented by this case, however, we conclude that this portion of the court's order did not exceed its powers. We agree that the statutes themselves provided no direct authority for the approach taken by the trial court. In general, though they act as regulated State agents, local governing boards are vested by statute with immediate jurisdiction over day-to-day district affairs. (งง 14000, 35000 et seq.) The SPI has important statutory responsibilities for allocating school funds (งง 33118, 14000 et seq.), monitoring local budgets (งง 42120 et seq., 41450), and administering the conditions of emergency loans appropriated by the Legislature (งง 41310, 41320 et seq.; see also ง 41325 et seq.), but no statute grants him emergency powers to operate a local district under other circumstances. [21] The court relied in part on section 33112, subdivision (a), which provides that the SPI shall [s]uperintend the schools of this state. But no case has interpreted this statute to vest the SPI with nonexpress powers, and an older decision construed similar language narrowly against a county superintendent. ( McKenzie v. Board of Education (1905) 1 Cal. App. 406, 409 [82 P. 392].) Indeed, counsel for the SPI conceded in the trial court that the SPI had no statutory authority to take over the District's government. The trial court also believed its takeover order was within its inherent equitable power to enforce the State's constitutional obligations in light of the unique emergency financial conditions presented by the case. In the court's view, ratification of all loan conditions proposed by the SPI was necessary to ensure the District's continued operation through June 14, 1991, promote its permanent financial recovery, and protect the loan itself. We agree. (8) In general, courts have equitable authority to enforce their constitutional judgments. (E.g., Crawford v. Board of Education, supra, 17 Cal.3d 280, 308.) Of course, principles of comity and separation of powers place significant restraints on courts' authority to order or ratify acts normally committed to the discretion of other branches or officials. ( Common Cause v. Board of Supervisors, supra, 49 Cal.3d 432, 445-446; Mandel v. Myers (1981) 29 Cal.3d 531, 540 [174 Cal. Rptr. 841, 629 P.2d 935]; Serrano II, supra, 18 Cal.3d 728, 751; Crawford v. Board of Education, supra, 17 Cal.3d at pp. 305-306; cf. Missouri v. Jenkins (1990) 495 U.S. 33, 50-58 [109 L.Ed.2d 31, 53-59, 110 S.Ct. 1651].) In particular, the separation of powers doctrine (Cal. Const., art. III, ง 3) obliges the judiciary to respect the separate constitutional roles of the Executive and the Legislature. Moreover, a judicial remedy must be tailored to the harm at issue. (E.g., Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC (1986) 478 U.S. 421, 476 [92 L.Ed.2d 344, 388, 106 S.Ct. 3019]; Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman (1977) 433 U.S. 406, 420 [53 L.Ed.2d 851, 863-864, 97 S.Ct. 2766].) A court should always strive for the least disruptive remedy adequate to its legitimate task. (7b) The trial court's remedial order in this case fell within proper boundaries. Having correctly held the State constitutionally responsible for the students' rights, the court could not deny the State and its officials effective means of fulfilling its obligation. Under the circumstances, the court was warranted in authorizing temporary transfer to the SPI of the Board's statutory powers over District affairs. The emergency the court confronted on May 2, 1991, demanded a prompt State-assisted solution to prevent immediate closure of the District's schools. The State was justified in satisfying its constitutional duty of aid by extending a loan that would impose the ultimate consequences of the District's self-created predicament upon the District, rather than upon the State, its taxpayers, and the students of other districts. The State was also entitled to conditions on the loan that would ensure its appropriate use for the intended constitutional purpose, and would minimize the risk of the District's default in repayment. The District's ability to administer the new loan under its existing systems and managers was uniquely suspect. As a matter of public record, the District's worsening financial situation had recently led the Legislature to provide a loan in excess of $9 million. A limited-powers State trustee appointed to monitor the District's fiscal affairs in connection with that loan had not been able to stem a growing District deficit estimated by one declarant, a member of the Board, to exceed $23 million for the 1990-1991 school year alone. In response to these difficulties, the Board had caused the District to seek bankruptcy protection against its existing creditors. As counsel for the SPI explained on April 29, 1991, the District's unprecedented financial collapse indicated systemic management problems. Hence, counsel reported, the SPI considered it foolhardy to extend further substantial State credit to the District unless its management was placed in competent hands, its administrative practices were reformed and restructured from the outside, and a long-term plan for its financial recovery was imposed. [22] On behalf of the State, the Attorney General contested the legality of vesting such extraordinary powers in the SPI, but no party disputed the logic of the SPI's position. Nor can we. Given the emergency circumstances, and under the extreme and aggravated conditions disclosed by the evidence, the court below could properly conclude that orderly completion of the District's 1990-1991 school term, and the sound financing essential to achieve that end, required temporary displacement of the sitting Board and the operation of the District by the SPI's designee for the purpose of stabilizing its financial affairs. [23] We conclude that the order approving temporary takeover of the District by the SPI was within the court's inherent equitable power to remedy the constitutional crisis. [24]