The judge declines to rule on whether the lawsuit against Hungerford School can proceed

A legal battle over the site of the former Hungerford School in Eatonville is on hold while a judge deliberates on whether or not it can proceed.

Ninth Circuit Judge Chad Alvaro declined to rule on Orange County Schools’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit against the former Hungerford School.

The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community and Bea Hatler, Robert Hungerford’s descendant, sued the county in 2023 over its plans to sell the site.

Kirsten Anderson, deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is the attorney representing the association.

She said regardless of whether the judge decides to move forward with the lawsuit or not, the dispute could be resolved by a vote of the Orange County School Board.

“We are calling on the school board to return this land to the community so that it can exercise its own self-determination over the future of this sacred land, which is critical to the cultural landscape of this historic city and to the survival of the city,” Anderson said.

The school district’s attorneys argued that Orange County Public Schools was completely immune from the lawsuit and that no court had jurisdiction to review the case.

In a statement, Orange County Schools said, “While the district was pleased to present its arguments in court this morning, out of respect for the judicial process, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

The Eatonville Community Preservation Association

A timeline of the battle for Hungerford School

The fight over Hungerford School began in 2023 when Orange County Schools tried to sell the property to a developer who planned to convert it into mixed-use housing.

The developer eventually pulled out of the deal and a grassroots movement to reclaim the land for the historic community of Eatonville emerged.

Later that year, the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community sued the district, saying it had failed to honor the original 1951 deed to the land, which stipulated that the land could only be used for educational purposes.

Then Bea Hatler, the descendant of Robert Hungerford, in whose honor the land was originally donated, joined the lawsuit.

Earlier this year, Orange County Schools returned 10 acres of the disputed site to Eatonville to be used for the state’s first Black History Museum.

St. Augustine was ultimately chosen for the state’s first Black History Museum, and the legal battle over the school continued. The judge gave no timeline for when he would finally decide the fate of the lawsuit.

Need an overview of what has happened so far regarding the former Hungerford School? Click here: