WARREN — They might think it’s ‘‘stupid,’’ but Newton Falls businessmen were denied a court order that would prevent the demolition of Arlington Elementary School.

‘‘He (Court of Common Pleas Magistrate Jason Earnhart) saw it for what it was worth,’’ schools Superintendent David Wilson said. ‘‘His comments were that the board acted in the best interest of the school district.’’

Monday’s ruling denied an injunction requested by William E. Shaulis and the Cadle Co., the business where Shaulis works. Shaulis and the company argued that the district’s decision to level the empty building and use the property as sports fields instead of selling the school at an auction was an abuse of discretion by the board of education.

The company wanted the court to order the district to sell the school and its surrounding property at an auction.

The Cadle Co. or Shaulis has two weeks to file any objection to the ruling.

A message was left with Dan Cadle, president of the Cadle Co., seeking comment, was not returned Monday.

The company and at least one other city business, Crown Enterprises LLC, had expressed interest in purchasing the building to use as office space.

The ruling states that the district’s decision to demolish the school was legal, stating that ‘‘a court has no authority to control the discretion of a board of education.’’

It also said the company waited too long to file their objection, given that asbestos abatement began on the building in mid-April.

‘‘Realtors (Shaulis and Cadle Co.), in effect, created their own emergency by waiting until the eleventh hour before filing their complaint,’’ the ruling states.

The ruling states that the harm done to the company is outweighed by the harm done to the district if it changed its plans. The district would have been held liable to demolition contractors for a breach of contract. The Ohio School Facilities Commission, which paid for the district’s new buildings as well as the majority of the demolition work, would pull its funding for the demolition.

Proponents of selling the building argued that the district could have made money from the sale to counter the nearly $140,000 in cuts it plans for next year.

The ruling concedes that the company made a well-grounded business argument. But law does not require the district to place more value on money over practice fields for school children, the ruling states.

Earnhart also took to task a comment made during questioning that the Board of Education was ‘‘stupid.’’

‘‘Often, in the experience of this magistrate, such work is thankless... Even if the undersigned magistrate did find or believe that the board members were ‘stupid,’ as Mr. Cadle asserts ... intelligence is not a prerequisite to making decisions as a school board member — it’s winning the most votes in a school board election that counts.

‘‘It’s possible to be stupid (unlike these board members)’’ and be within the legal rights granted by the state, he states.

By BILL RODGERS Tribune Chronicle
brodgers [at] tribune-chronicle [dot] com