Fraud claims against La Reina High School and its parent organization can proceed, a Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled Sept. 10.

The ruling allows former students, parents and donors to continue pursuing three causes of action against the Thousand Oaks Catholic school and its Ohio-based parent, SND National Ministry Corporation (NMC): fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and violation of California's Unfair Competition Law. The court also allowed the plaintiffs to seek punitive damages, the Thousand Oaks Acorn first reported.

The judge did not find that La Reina or NMC committed wrongdoing. The ruling means only that the plaintiffs' fourth amended complaint contains enough specific allegations for the case to move forward.

At the center of the lawsuit is a question Conejo Valley families have asked since January 2024: When was the decision to close La Reina actually made?

The plaintiffs allege the school and NMC decided by June 2023 to close at the end of the 2023-24 school year. They allege the community was not told until Jan. 24, 2024. During those months, according to the complaint, La Reina continued recruiting students and soliciting donations.

The complaint points to a November 2023 "Freshman For A Day" event, a Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign and a Dec. 15, 2023, email urging families to recruit students for entrance exams. Those exams were held Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, 2024, days before the closure announcement.

According to the complaint, former La Reina President Tony Guevara told at least one administrator the exams should proceed despite the planned closure so as to "not give anything away."

That allegation has not been proven.

The judge found specific allegations by plaintiff Francine Bradley sufficient for a fraudulent-concealment claim against Guevara. Bradley alleges she told Guevara shortly before Christmas 2023 that she intended to make a significant donation. According to the complaint, Guevara encouraged the gift but did not disclose the planned closure. Bradley transferred a five-figure stock donation to La Reina on Dec. 27, 2023.

Two other claims against Guevara were dismissed. The judge found the lawsuit did not identify a specific false statement Guevara made directly to any plaintiff. That fraud claim cannot be refiled.

The plaintiffs also allege NMC directed the La Reina board to vote on the closure in January 2024. Four board members refused because they believed the school remained viable, the complaint alleges. Those members were removed and replaced. A newly constituted five-member board voted Jan. 22, 2024, to close the school.

The plaintiffs contend that vote violated La Reina bylaws requiring 13 directors. Defendants say the bylaws were amended Jan. 19, 2024, to allow a board of three or more. The court declined to accept the defendants' document as proof the amendment was valid.

La Reina, founded in 1964 as an all-girls Catholic college preparatory school, drew students from across the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley. Guevara told the school community that enrollment had fallen 53% over eight years, from 575 to 268 students.

About 250 people attended a Feb. 4, 2024, rally opposing the closure. A group called Save La Reina formed to fight the decision.

Attorney Sandhya Kogge, a La Reina alumna working with Save La Reina, told attendees at a Feb. 1, 2024, community meeting that "filing a lawsuit is certainly not the goal here." The lawsuit was filed Feb. 27, 2024.

The case went through multiple revisions and a detour into federal court before returning to Ventura County Superior Court. The fourth amended complaint was filed June 1. No public statements from the defendants or the plaintiffs' attorneys responding to the Sept. 10 ruling were available in court records as of publication.

The case returns to Department 44 of Ventura County Superior Court on Oct. 16 for a case management conference.