Summary Judgment Granted: Stadium Lawsuit Case Dismissed

An Iowa District Court has granted the school district’s request for summary judgment and dismissed a lawsuit pertaining the DMPS Community Stadium at Drake University.

Among the claims in the lawsuit was whether the school district correctly determined the number of signatures required to trigger a referendum vote on whether to fund stadium project using sales tax (SAVE) funds. The Court found that “the District correctly set the number of voters that must sign the SAVE petition” and that Des Moines Public Schools “correctly refused to accept the petition because the number of signatures did not reach the amount needed to trigger a special election.”

Superintendent Tom Ahart made the following comment in response to the Court’s decision:

“The DMPS Community Stadium at Drake University is an important project for our schools and the community. As Superintendent, I am grateful that the Court confirmed the school district followed the law and has dismissed this lawsuit. While increased material costs and decreased material availability has briefly slowed down the project in order for us to stay on budget, we plan to go back out for bids later this year. We are excited to open this new venue in the Fall of 2023 and launch another significant partnership between DMPS and Drake.”