WEST WARWICK — A Superior Court judge has denied the town’s motion to dismiss a $1.1-million lawsuit filed by the School Committee, ruling that an earlier decision in a similar case in Cranston does not dictate the actions in the West Warwick case.

In April, the School Committee sued the town under a state law known as the Caruolo Act, which allows school departments to seek additional education funding from their municipality.

Town Solicitor Timothy A. Williamson on Wednesday argued that because Justice Judith C. Savage denied Cranston’s request for an additional $4.1 million, because it had waited too late to file the lawsuit, effectively tying the hands of the city, that West Warwick’s request must be denied as well.

But in his order, Judge Edwin J. Gale decided that legal precedent was not established in the Cranston case, according to schools lawyer David Lussier, because precedent can be set only by a higher court.

“They are parallel courts,” Lussier said of Gale and Savage’s courtrooms.

In his order, Gale said that even if the town amended its motion to seek a summary judgment — which would allow the court to decide the case without hearing any oral arguments — there is not enough information within the complaints to “conclude that under no set of facts would [the schools] not be entitled to relief.”

Meanwhile, subcommittees from the School Department and Town Council might meet at the beginning of the week, Lussier said, to begin negotiations. Over the past week, the two groups have traded offers aimed at settling the issue, but have yet to come to a resolution.

“We’re hoping that the parties can get together and use the time between now and the trial [to negotiate a settlement],” he said. “If we can’t, we go on, but I think we should be able to settle this.”

tbuford@projo.com