OCEANSIDE - An Oceanside woman who filed a small-claims lawsuit against the Bonsall West Elementary School PTA, an organization she once belonged to, has dropped the suit.

The woman, Wendy Cwiklinski, confirmed Wednesday that she has received the PTA's refund of $500 she paid for a parking spot in a fundraising auction last summer and followed through with her promise to halt the litigation if she got the refund. She filed the suit Jan. 26 in Superior Court in Vista, and had a court date set there for March 19.

Cwiklinski said the parking spot was provided, but it was supposed to be marked as "reserved" by a sign with her name on it, which it did not have.

"I'm glad they settled out of court," Cwiklinski said in an interview Wednesday, adding that going to court would have been a good thing.

"It would've been nice to have the judgment. Legally, there was a contract. Legally, they did not fulfill the contract, and they lost sight of that in their emotional perspective," Cwiklinski also said of Bonsall West's PTA leaders, vowing not to participate in the group again.

The deal also called for the Bonsall West principal to greet her at the parking spot, on the first day of school only, with a cup of gourmet coffee for her, Cwiklinski also had said, and he wasn't there.

However, PTA President Mary Holt has maintained that nothing more than a reserved spot was offered at the auction. On Wednesday, Holt confirmed that the refund was granted and the case had been dropped, but declined additional comment.

Cwiklinski, a former Bonsall West PTA vice president, said she outbid others for the spot at an auction during the PTA's first-ever fundraising golf tournament held June 9. Proceeds went to the school for its music and literacy programs.

The spot she won, along with another auctioned spot, was labeled "reserved" in red paint on the parking spot pavement - but without a sign with her name on it - on Oct. 2, Cwiklinski explained.

Cwiklinski said what she successfully bidded on was a "VIP parking spot."

After attempting to get a full refund from the PTA, the organization's leadership sent her a refund check for $69.50, a pro-rated amount to account for the time the space was not marked, Cwiklinski said. She also said she returned the pro-rated refund check to the PTA and made another fruitless attempt to get a full refund before filing suit.

Cwiklinski made an unsuccessful bid in November for a seat on the board of the Bonsall Union School District. She was 25 votes short of beating board incumbent Robert Turner.

Although Bonsall West is in Oceanside, the elementary school is part of the Bonsall Union district.

- Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (760) 731-5798 or lfleming@nctimes.com.