La Salle school seeks preliminary injunction from state mandated closure

A La Salle school that was granted a temporary restraining order last week from the Illinois State Board of Education’s mandated closure now is seeking a preliminary injunction.

The Menta school located at the Grove Center in La Salle remains open, as well as facilities in Centralia and Springfield.

A preliminary injunction restricts the same behavior as a temporary restraining order, but it remains in force until revoked by the court. The court has a higher standard for granting a preliminary injunction than a temporary restraining order, however.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Celia Gamrath set hearings dates on Dec. 13 and Jan. 17. The second hearing will be a three-day hearing regarding the preliminary injunction.

Gamrath said previously students or their school districts may choose not to attend the Menta school without penalty, but it will be open for them. The judge said that she took into consideration what would cause the least disruption to families and students, as well as their safety, until the matter between ISBE and Menta can be resolved.

The Menta facilities operate as therapeutic day schools for students with significant social-emotional disabilities.

The Menta facilities had applied to ISBE for approval in the spring. None of the three facilities received approval, and yet they opened and started enrolling and serving students, the state board said in its reasoning for ordering the school to close.

Menta contests the ISBE, saying it received tuition rates from the Illinois Purchase Care Review Board. Its spokesman said the board only issues rates when programs are approved.

La Salle’s school has 33 pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students, according to Menta’s website.