LINCOLN, Neb. - Less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal to save Nebraska's smallest schools, a federal lawsuit was filed to try to block their forced mergers with larger school districts.

Former Nebraska Attorney General Don Stenberg filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that the law requiring the elementary only - or Class I - districts to merge with larger, K-12 districts by June 15 was unconstitutional.

Opponents mounted a successful petition drive that will put the question of repealing the law on the November ballot. However, the merger law remains in effect, and all 200 Class I schools have been ordered to dissolve by June 15.

Stenberg repeated many of the arguments he made to the U.S. Supreme Court and in an unsuccessful lawsuit filed in state court.

Stenberg argued that closing the schools before voters weigh in on the issue deprives them of their rights, among other things.

The high court rejected Stenberg's appeal last month without comment.

In March, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that a judge was wrong to put on hold the law that calls for the mergers.

The Nebraska high court ruled in a case challenging a law (LB126) passed last year over Gov. Dave Heineman's veto.

The Nebraska Supreme Court cited the state Constitution, which says "an act of the Legislature shall be suspended only in the event that a referendum petition is signed by `not less than 10 percent of the registered voters.' "

"In this case, there is no dispute that plaintiffs collected the signatures of only a little more than 7.7 percent of the registered voters in Nebraska," Chief Justice John Hendry said. "Under such circumstance, to suspend `the taking effect' of LB126 pending the referendum vote would require this court to ignore the will of the people as clearly expressed in the state Constitution. This we will not do."

The state court also declined to weigh in on Stenberg's contention that the merger law illustrates a need to change the referendum process.

Merger proponents say that having K-12 districts statewide will save money and provide a more equitable education to all students.