Skip to main content
News Releases » Court Once Again Rules Against Efforts to Stop Long-Delayed Monterey High School Stadium Improvements Project

Court Once Again Rules Against Efforts to Stop Long-Delayed Monterey High School Stadium Improvements Project

For Immediate Release

December 12, 2023

 

Contact: Marci McFadden, Chief of Communication

831-706-6971

                       

Court Dismisses Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
from Latest Lawsuit Challenging the Monterey High School Stadium Project
Court finds the latest lawsuit to be legally inadequate; action against MPUSD thrown out  

 

Monterey, CA –  On December 7, 2023, Judge Thomas Wills of the Monterey County Superior Court issued an order in the case of Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability v. Division of State Architect, et al., that removes Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh as defendants in the action entirely and dismisses the two claims against them, strikes large portions of the complaint, and significantly narrows a single remaining claim in the case against the Division of State Architect, which is the state agency that approved plans for MPUSD’s Monterey High School Stadium Project. This lawsuit is the third filed by the same attorney that, in the words of the Court, constitutes “an effort to block the construction of the Monterey High School stadium improvement project.” The Court’s latest ruling can be found here or below.

 

This most recent lawsuit has now been filed three times against both MPUSD and DSA in relation to the Stadium Project. The first petition was filed on June 7, 2022, and then amended by petitioner’s counsel on October 31, 2022. MPUSD and DSA then filed a demurrer, which is a request that the Court find the petition to be legally inadequate. On July 6, 2023, the Court granted MPUSD’s and DSA’s motion, finding the petition to be inadequate, but gave petitioners leave to amend and refile the lawsuit. Petitioners then filed the second amended petition on July 31, 2023. It was this second amended petition that was the subject of the Court’s most recent ruling. 

 

The second amended petition included three causes of action. The first, which was against DSA, alleged that DSA improperly approved the Stadium Project because of an alleged lack of approval by the local fire authority and the alleged lack of disability access. The second cause of action was against MPUSD and Superintendent Diffenbaugh, and alleged the unlawful alteration of public records. The third cause of action, against both DSA and MPUSD, alleged impropriety related to approval of a previously abandoned parking lot project on the Monterey High School campus. MPUSD and DSA filed a further motion demurrer, as well as a motion to strike portions of the second petition. 

 

The Court’s most recent order found entirely in favor of MPUSD and DSA in relation to the second and third causes of action. On the second cause of action alleging alteration of public records, petitioners had claimed that MPUSD and Superintendent Diffenbaugh unlawfully altered public records when, at the explicit direction of DSA, a signature on one form submitted to DSA was cut and paste onto another form. The Court found that the second cause of action “fail[ed] to state facts sufficient to state a cognizable cause of action,” and granted MPUSD’s demurrer without leave to amend, meaning that this cause of action has now been fully resolved. For the third cause of action, regarding the abandoned parking lot project, the Court found that the matter was moot, and that there is not “any presently justiciable controversy,” and therefore also granted the demurrer without leave to amend, meaning that this cause of action is also now resolved in favor of DSA and MPUSD.

 

Finally, on the first cause of action, the Court granted the demurrer in favor of DSA in relation to ADA access. In relation to the portion of the cause of action related to applicable fire codes, the Court acknowledged that petitioners had made a number of concessions that were contrary to the allegations of their own second amended petition, thus resolving numerous of the specific allegations in favor of DSA. The Court also granted DSA’s motion to strike significant portions of the first cause of action.  However, the court found that a narrow issue existed as to the applicable requirements for an emergency access road that could not yet be resolved on demurrer, and therefore gave petitioners 30 days to attempt a third amended petition to try yet again to state a valid cause of action on this one issue.

 

The Court’s ruling in this matter results in the complete removal of MPUSD and Superintendent Diffenbaugh as defendants from further litigation over the issues raised in the second amended petition. This follows after the Court’s prior ruling in favor of MPUSD under the California Environmental Quality Act in Preserving the Peace v. Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, although petitioners have appealed that ruling.     

 

The project would construct necessary improvements to the Dan Albert Stadium at Monterey High School and additional athletic facilities on campus, including:

 

  • Converting an existing dirt field adjacent to the Dan Albert Stadium that is used for overflow parking into a softball/multi-use field
  • A 1,920 square foot strength and conditioning center
  • Improvements to the track and field event area
  • Four new, permanent field lights at Dan Albert Stadium
  • Renovation of the stadium to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • Replacement of the temporary press box
  • New public address system
  • Installation of separate visitor bleachers on the opposite side of the stadium  

 

Superintendent Diffenbaugh states “while we are pleased with the Court’s latest ruling in our favor, MPUSD remains frustrated that this worthwhile project continues to be challenged, and that public funds must be expended to defeat these repeated -- and in this case, meritless -- lawsuits.” 

 

# # #

 

About Monterey Peninsula Unified School District

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is home to approximately 9,600 students in grades transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. The district also houses preschool and adult education. The district is built on a solid foundation of effective instruction, positive school culture, systems of support, and collaborative leadership. The district is nestled along the Monterey Bay, and stretches from the city of Marina to the north to the city of Monterey to the south, and includes the communities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside.