Injunction clears way for Tony Wroten's return to Garfield

Tony Wroten can return to Garfield High School this morning.

His mother, Shirley Wroten, confirmed that the Wroten family was granted a temporary injunction allowing his return to school while his family goes forward with a lawsuit against the Seattle School District.

"It's a big deal," Shirley Wroten said. "It's a victory in the right direction."

Wroten, one of the country's top sophomore players, will also be allowed to play basketball, the judge said. He can rejoin the Garfield team, ranked second in the state in Class 4A, tomorrow.

Judge Eric Watness, who granted the injunction, set the next hearing date for Jan. 21.

Wroten's family filed the lawsuit against the Seattle School District in King County Superior Court last Friday. Wroten's Garfield enrollment was terminated Dec. 5 by the school district, which claimed an investigation revealed that he was not a Seattle resident.

The lawsuit, which states that Wroten resides in a Seattle home, claims the school district has wronged the Wrotens in three ways: by denying Tony Wroten his constitutional right to a public education; by denying him due process; and by breaching the contract reached between the district and the Wroten family last summer.

"Plaintiffs have suffered damages and will continue to suffer damages and irreparable harm if Tony's enrollment at Garfield is not reinstated," the lawsuit states.

Wroten, 15, a 6-foot-5 guard, hasn't played a game this season for Garfield. He has been out of school since Dec. 5, and as long as the Seattle School District denies he is a Seattle resident, he cannot attend another Seattle school without applying as a nonresident.

Wroten applied to Garfield as a nonresident student this summer, but his application was denied because the sophomore class at Garfield had exceeded capacity. The Wrotens made an agreement with the district that Tony Wroten could attend Garfield if the family moved into the school district.

The Wrotens rented a home in Seattle, about a block from Garfield, and they claim that Tony Wroten lives there. The district, which used surveillance of that home in its investigation, claims that Wroten lives in the Renton home that his father still owns.