State Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard had demanded that the OPSB hire New York professional services firm Alvarez and Marsal to come in to organize the district's finances. He threatened to withhold millions in federal money for the school district if OPSB did not. The Orleans Parish School Board voted 4-to-3 May 23 to allow Alvarez] and Marsal] to manage the district's finances. But Torin Sanders] refused to sign the agreement, saying it gave OPSB no control and saddled it with unlimited liability. Sanders appealed to the state Board of Ethics for help. Meanwhile, the same four OPSB members who voted for the agreement voted to sue Sanders to force him to sign it. But parents from the school district filed a restraining order prohibiting Sanders from signing the agreement, which created an impasse.