Armenian school in Glendale seeks $6m in damages from city

PanARMENIAN.Net - A private Armenian school in Glendale that has been fighting to operate for nearly two years is seeking up to $6 million in damages from the city that it claims it suffered as a result of being temporarily shut down.

Glendale News-Press reports that Scholars Academic Foundation claims in its lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that the city violated its rights to due process and caused economic harm when officials closed the school by “yellow-tagging” the building in February 2010.

The school is seeking $2.75 million to $6 million in damages, according to court documents.

But City Atty. Mike Garcia argued in court documents that the school's claims lack merit, and even if they didn't, the most Scholars Academic Foundation could recover is three to five weeks' worth of rent.

“The economic impact of the ‘yellow-tagging' is minimal,” Garcia contended.

A judge took the case for review last week, but Garcia said in an email that a decision isn't expected for some time.

The city maintains it had the right to shut down the school after a fire inspection found an inadequate fire alarm and locked or blocked exits. The school's attorneys have said the issues were quickly fixed and the shutdown was excessive.

The school's principal, Anahit Grigoryan, said during court proceedings that the city's former zoning administrator, Edith Fuentes, said the school could operate in its new building if it quickly applied for permits. But that turned out to be an incorrect assessment.

The city sent the kindergarten-to-12th-grade school violation notices but never received a response. In a surprise February visit, a fire inspector found it unsafe to occupy.

After the safety issues were fixed, the city still wouldn't let the school open, according to court documents.