Opinion ID: 2690795
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedural History of Case

Text: {¶ 2} In June 2009, CPS conducted a public auction for nine of its vacant school buildings. The promotional materials for the auction advised that the auctioned buildings “may not be used as any type of educational facility.” In the June 9, 2009 purchase and sale agreement, the buyer agreed to “use the Property for ‘commercial development’ ” and “not to use the Property for school purposes.” The buyer further agreed “that the deeds to the Property will be restricted to prohibit future use of the Property for school purposes,” but the agreement added that this provision does not apply to CPS, which would be allowed to repurchase the property “for school purposes.” Because CPS had decided that the school buildings were “not suitable for use as classroom space” pursuant to former R.C. 3313.41(G), 151 Ohio Laws, Part V, 8764, 8788-8789, CPS did not offer them for sale to community schools before auction. {¶ 3} The appellees, Dr. Roger Conners and his mother, Deborah Conners, were the only bidders to bid at auction on the former Roosevelt School located on Tremont Street in Cincinnati. They bid $30,000 for the property and on June 9, 2009, entered into the purchase and sale agreement containing the deed restriction. On an exhibit attached to the purchase agreement entitled “Intended use,” appellees were asked to describe how they would use the property. They responded, “Not sure” and “possible re-sale to another interest buyer.” Title was conveyed by a quitclaim deed on June 30, 2009. On October 8, 2009, the appellees received conditional-use approval from Cincinnati’s Office of the Zoning Hearing Examiner to “reopen the school as a charter school.” The following January, appellees, through counsel, notified the CPS school board and its chief legal counsel that the deed restriction was void as against public policy and that they intended to open a charter school in August 2010. {¶ 4} CPS filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, seeking a declaration that the deed restriction prohibiting the use of the 2 January Term, 2012 property as a school was valid and enforceable and seeking to enjoin the appellees from taking any action toward opening a school on the property. At the time that CPS filed suit, appellees had moved forward with the school renovation pursuant to the zoning approval, investing $60,000 in rehabilitation of the building and purchasing $10,000 of school furniture, among other expenditures. Appellees sought and were granted judgment on the pleadings, and CPS’s complaint was dismissed. In its order, the trial court stated that the deed restriction at issue was void as against public policy. {¶ 5} The Court of Appeals for Hamilton County affirmed, holding that the deed restriction was void as against public policy embodied in former R.C. 3313.41(G), 151 Ohio Laws, Part V, at 8788-8789, which required public school districts to give charter school operators the first option to purchase vacant school buildings if they were “suitable for use as classroom space.” Cincinnati City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Conners, 1st Dist. No. C-100399, 2011-Ohio-1084. The statute was amended to delete “suitable for use as classroom space” in 2011. Am.Sub.H.B. No. 153. {¶ 6} In reaching its decision, the court of appeals concluded that “community schools having access to classroom space [is] clear Ohio public policy. And the deed restriction that sought to prevent the use of the property for educational purposes was void as against this clear policy.” Id. at ¶ 9. {¶ 7} We accepted CPS’s appeal on the following proposition of law: The Ohio legislature has not expressed a public policy in favor of community schools over public schools with regard to a public school district’s disposal of real property; to the extent any public policy has been established, it is expressly stated in R.C. 3313.41(G) and does not permit a court of law to unilaterally abridge a public school district’s statutory authority to negotiate 3 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO arm’s-length contract terms, including deed restrictions in a contract to sell real property to private citizens. Cincinnati City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Conners, 129 Ohio St.3d 1449, 2011Ohio-4217, 951 N.E.2d 1046.