Beaufort County Bd. of Educ. v. Beaufort County Bd. of Commissioners, No. 06-956 (N.C. App. Feb. 5, 2008)
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld a jury verdict awarding the Beaufort County Board of Education (BCBOE) over $10 million in funds from the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners (BCBOC) to operate the county’s public schools. The school board filed the suit after the BCBOC refused its request for funding in excess of what BCBOC had allocated for the school system for the 2006-2007 school year. BCBOC filed motions to dismiss the case for failure to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted and failure to join necessary parties, but the state trial court denied them. The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $10,200,000, and the trial court entered a judgment in this amount. BCBOC appealed to the intermediate appeals court, raising six issues.
The appeals court first held that the case was not moot, finding that it was still a fresh controversy because the appeal was pending prior to expiration of the 2006-07 fiscal year and the conclusion of the fiscal year had not resolved the controversy. The court next rejected BCBOC’s reliance on the state constitution and past state court decisions on school finance for the proposition that the state, rather than local, government bears the primary responsibility of providing funding for a “general and uniform system of free public schools.” The appeals court found that state law requires BCBOC to provide funding to BCBOE and upon disagreement as to sufficient funding, the school board was authorized to file the suit. The appeals court then rejected BCBOC’s argument that the school board failed to allege or prove that BCBOC did not “adequately fund school current expenses in a category the General Assembly has established a positive duty for a county to fund.” Instead, the court concluded that BCBOE’s complaint alleging the amount appropriated by BCBOC was “not sufficient to support a system of free public schools in Beaufort County” was sufficient to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under state law. The appeals court next found that the lower court had not abused its discretion or erred in denying BCBOC’s motion for a continuance in the case to have more time to prepare. As for BCBOC’s argument that BCBOE failed to join necessary parties to the dispute, specifically the state and the state board of education, the court concluded that no legal authority requires this in a funding dispute between a board of education and a board of county commissioners. Finally, it concluded the trial court had not erred in denying BCBOC’s motions for directed verdict, because the trial court record showed that BCBOE had presented sufficient evidence for its case to be submitted to the jury.
Beaufort County Bd. of Educ. v. Beaufort County Bd. of Commissioners, No. 06-956 (N.C. App. Feb. 5, 2008)
[Editor’s Note: For reactions to the ruling, see below.]
Washington Daily News, 2/6/08, By Dan Parsons