Judge denies Helix High injunction request

"But the school must take responsibility for what appears to be systemic problems, said Dan Shinoff, an attorney representing Grossmont."

Dan Shinoff is paid a lot of money by schools to make sure they don't have to take responsibility for systemic problems, but consistency doesn't seem to be one of Shinoff's strong points.

See all posts about Helix High.

Judge denies Helix High injunction request
By Maureen Magee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 3, 2010
HELIX vs. GROSSMONT

A Superior Court judge yesterday refused to wade into a dispute over the Grossmont school district’s effort to rescind the Helix High School charter because the process for revocation has yet to run its course.

Superior Court Judge Randa Trapp denied Helix’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have halted the Grossmont Union High School District’s revocation proceedings. Helix needs the charter to operate independently.

Helix must appeal any decision to revoke the charter to the county, and perhaps the state, before it can turn to the courts, according to the decision.

“The court determines that it lacks jurisdiction to proceed with this matter because Helix Charter High School has failed to exhaust its administrative remedies,” Trapp said.

The Grossmont school board voted in February to start the revocation process after an assistant principal at Helix was accused of violating a new conduct code — one that was adopted to stave off a previous effort to revoke the charter.

Joshua Stepner, who has since been fired, drove a troubled student to a bus station — after helping her buy a ticket online — for a trip to her grandmother’s house in Oregon. At the time, the student was reportedly living unhappily with relatives who were not her parents. The student was not harmed...