According to Town Council member Jerry Kaynard, the Sullivan’s Island Town Council voted last week to ask a circuit court judge for a legal opinion regarding how to proceed with a petition signed by opponents of the new school. Those opponents are seeking a referendum that could require the current design to be debunked.

Town Council received two legal opinions that conclude that the petition was defective and could be rejected.

Town Council then went to another judge for an impartial third opinion. A filing will allow supporters of the referendum to present their argument in court. Kaynard said the case has not been filed, but the town has authorized its attorney to do so.

“Our attorneys have told us that there are defects in the petition,” Kaynard said. “There are certain things they are asking us to do that are impossible. That’s why we’re asking a judge what to do with the petition. But we do want the other side, the residents who signed the petition, to have a chance to give their position in court.”

Kaynard said the court judge and clerk of court will decide on the date of the hearing.

One defect Kaynard mentioned in the petition was the request for the new school to be built within the existing building’s 30,000 square-foot design, and he noted that this was a 1950’s-era building.

“The petition was certified prior to ratification of the lease (of the new school),” said Barbara Spell, a member of Islanders for a Smaller Sullivan’s Island Elementary School. “It is a legal certified petition. And by virtue of that, we are entitled to a referendum. We certainly hope the judge decides we are entitled to a referendum on the size of the school.”