Parents Defending Education appeals dismissal of its lawsuit against the Croton-Harmon school district to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Following its carefully planned strategy, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit wasted no time filing an appeal of the decision they had asked U.S. Judge Cathy Seibel to make.

As we reported yesterday, after a half-hour hearing with the plaintiffs, Parents Defending Education, and the defendants, the Croton-Harmon school district, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel granted PDE’s request for her to dismiss the case so that PDE could take some issues of judicial precedents up on appeal.

The plaintiffs wasted no time in doing so. Today, PDE’s attorneys filed notice with the court of their appeal to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, located in lower Manhattan. As we discussed in our earlier coverage, getting Judge Seibel to dismiss the case was an integral part of PDE’s legal strategy to put at least some of the issues in the lawsuit before a higher court, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Seibel acted more quickly than might have been expected on their request, and PDE’s attorneys have acted just as quickly to put the next stage of their strategy into play.

From the court docket:

Friday, July 12, 202437

NOTICE OF APPEAL from36 Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction,,. Document filed by Parents Defending Education. Filing fee $ 605.00, receipt number ANYSDC-29595875. Form C and Form D are due within 14 days to the Court of Appeals, Second Circuit..(Connolly, John)

Transmission of Notice of Appeal and Certified Copy of Docket Sheet to US Court of Appeals re:37 Notice of Appeal,..(nd)

Appeal Record Sent to USCA (Electronic File). Certified Indexed record on Appeal Electronic Files for37 Notice of Appeal, filed by Parents Defending Education were transmitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals..(nd)

We are told that some Croton residents, on village social media and elsewhere, have mistakenly expressed statements to the effect that the case is “over” or that the school district has “won.” Nothing could be further from the truth. While the Second Circuit may not be willing to overturn its own judicial precedents, which are at issue in the current appeal, PDE’s attorneys have been quite clear that they wish to take the case as far as possible. With a 6-3 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, that might be more than just wishful thinking.

Please follow the Chronicle’s coverage of the case to be fully informed.

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