By By BETTY MITCHELL GRAY
Staffr Writer
A nearly three-year-long court battle between the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners and the Beaufort County Schools over school funding came to an end late in 2009 after the state’s high court rejected a school board petition asking the court to reconsider its ruling.
In December, the two boards okayed a resolution ending litigation over funding for the 2006-2007 school budget should end and agreeing to cooperate on any changes regarding school funding for the 2010-11 school year.
But possible state budget shortfalls in coming fiscal years could continue to exacerbate already strained relationships between the two boards.
In July 2006, the school board took the county to court, arguing that the school system’s funding from the county was not adequate to properly run county schools for the 2006-2007 school year. A jury subsequently awarded the school board an additional $756,783 for the year. Superior Court Judge William C. Griffin Jr. ordered the county to pay the school board $412,456.51 of that jury award while the case made its way through the appeals process.
This summer, the N.C. Supreme Court reversed a decision by the N.C. Court of Appeals regarding the lawsuit and remanded the case to Beaufort County Superior Court. The court determined that instructions to the jury were flawed in Griffin’s definition of the word “needed” as it relates to appropriations needed to operate a public school system in Beaufort County. Griffin has since retired.
In September, lawyers for the school board filed a petition asking the high court to reconsider its opinion. In the petition, the school board sought an expanded definition of the word “needed” rather than the restricted definition as defined in the court’s ruling.
After the school board filed its petition, the county commissioners and their lawyer expressed their strong displeasure of the school board’s actions and called on the schools to drop the petition. Ultimately the high court rejected the petition and the school board voted to seek a dismissal of the Superior Court case.
The court action came amid an economic downturn that created one of the largest budget shortfalls in state history. To help close it’s budget gap, the state legislature reduced its local government appropriations and Beaufort County had to turn to its school system to help the county cover its budget shortfall for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. At a contentious meeting when it first rejected the county’s request, the school board voted to return about $236,000 to the county.
Besides stipulating that the county and school board would drop litigation over funding for the 2006-2007 school year, the resolution adopted by both boards also says the county will not pursue a refund of the $412,456.51 they were ordered to pay the schools by then- Superior Court Judge William C. Griffin Jr. as a result of the jury verdict. It also calls for the school board and county commissioners to meet together on or before September 1, 2010 in order to review school appropriations as established by an agreement enacted as a result of the original lawsuit.
But County Manager Paul Spruill anticipates that some of the cuts imposed by the state will continue into the next fiscal year, therefore setting up continued contentious debates between the two boards in the coming year.