Hope Academy Broadway Campus v. White Hat Mgt., L.L.C. (Slip Opinion)

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} This contract dispute is a portion of ongoing litigation initiated by appellants,1 the governing boards of ten Cleveland community schools, commonly called “charter schools” (collectively, “the schools”). The defendants-appellees are private for-profit companies White Hat Management, L.L.C., and WHLS of Ohio, L.L.C., and ten subsidiary companies (collectively, “the companies”)2 that operated and managed the schools (collectively, “White Hat”), pursuant to contracts with each school. The State Board of Education was also named in the *31complaint. The schools ask us to decide…