VISTA -- A nonprofit group that was a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the Vista Unified School District of misusing public bond money is bowing out of the complaint, the group's president said Thursday.

The decision came a few days after a Superior Court judge ruled that the group, Citizens Urging Reform in Education, would need to prove it has a legal right to sue in order to remain a part of the lawsuit. The ruling gave the group 10 days to meet that requirement.

At the same Aug. 18 hearing, Judge Michael B. Orfield said the other plaintiffs, Oceanside residents Jerry and Ann McLeod, do have legal standing to sue and that their complaint could move forward.

The ruling did not come as a surprise, said Ken Moser, the education group's chief executive officer. He said he was pleased with the decision allowing the lawsuit to continue.

The reform group's participation in the lawsuit has been somewhat controversial since the North County Times reported in June that state records showed the organization's founder, school board Trustee Stephen Guffanti, was the group's chief executive when the suit was filed May 16.

Guffanti has said the state records were out of date and that he had no role in the lawsuit. He recently proposed firing Vista Unified's attorneys in the suit, accusing them of alerting the press about the state records in order to smear him politically.

In June, Moser said he had taken over the group in early spring at the request of Guffanti. At the same time, Moser said he had little information about the lawsuit and was still getting up to speed.

In his ruling last week, Orfield said the group had no legal standing to sue because, under its 1992 articles of incorporation, it had no members other than its officers. According to state records updated in late May, the officers are now Moser and Jill Parvin, who is listed as the group's agent. Parvin said in June that she joined the group in January.

In the lawsuit, the McLeods and the group alleged that the district hasn't built the schools it promised in Proposition O, a $140 million school bond measure approved by voters in 2002.

The suit also seeks to block construction of a high school campus the district plans to build at Melrose Drive near Highway 76, alleging that the district plans to turn it into a comprehensive high school instead of the two magnet high schools promised in the proposition.

The McLeods live near the proposed campus and Jerry McLeod has said he has serious safety concerns about building a school near such a busy thoroughfare.

Since it was filed, the lawsuit has been amended to narrow its complaints. The plaintiffs have dropped allegations that the district's heavy use of modular construction in several of its new schools violates the will of voters and that the district is not properly utilizing its Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.

By narrowing the scope of the lawsuit, the trial can focus more on the most important issue, which is whether the district is complying with Prop. O, said Everett DeLano, the lawyer representing the McLeods.

"We wanted to narrow the scope of it, so we wouldn't be getting off on those peripheral issues," he said.

The next step in the legal battle will come Sept. 1, when the judge will set dates on the court calendar and decide when the trial will begin.

Ken Klein, one of the lawyers representing the district in the case, said the district wants the trial to be held as soon as possible,

"The district is prepared to go to trial now," he said.

However, DeLano said it could take several months until he is ready for trial.

"I know the district has been clamoring that they want it soon, but I just don't see any way, with the discovery that we need to do," he said. "I'm looking forward to the day that we actually get to argue about the merits of this case."

Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 631-6622 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.