The opinion, written by by Judge Donna Stroud, and concurred by Judge Lucy Inman, was filed this morning.
Chief Judge Linda McGee was the dissenter on the three-judge panel.
In writing the opinion, Stroud said, “The General Assembly created Halifax County and granted it any powers it may have and the General Assembly retains its power to carry out its constitutional obligations under Leandro 1 and II to provide a sound basic education in Halifax County regardless of the current arrangements of the school districts.”
Concluding, Stroud wrote, “Leandro I has answered the question of the state’s constitutional obligation to provide a sound basic education and defendant on its own simply does not have the power or authority to do what plaintiffs ask.”
The initial lawsuit was filed by the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights in August of 2015 and claimed the maintenance of three separate systems obstructed Halifax County's students from securing the opportunity to receive a sound, basic education.
The complainants include three parents and grandparents of students within the county school system.
It alleged the county commissioners failed to meet its obligation to provide the opportunity to receive a sound basic education to all children in Halifax County and the board is constitutionally obligated to structure a system of public education that meets the qualitative standards established by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Leandro v. State and Hoke County v. State.
In February of last year Superior Court Judge W. Russell Duke Jr. dismissed the complaint, writing, “A dismissal … is appropriate when the complaint on its face reveals that no law supports the plaintiffs' claim. Having reviewed the pleadings, the motions of the defendant, the memoranda of law and arguments of counsel for the defendant and counsel for the plaintiffs, the court determines and finds that the complaint of the plaintiffs fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted by this court and the … action ought to be and the same is hereby dismissed with prejudice.”
Reactions
County Attorney Glynn Rollins said because the opinion was issued with dissent, the decision can be appealed as a matter of right.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Vernon Bryant said this morning, “On behalf of the Halifax County Board of Commissioners we are pleased with the court ruling to uphold the lower court’s decision.”
Mark Dorosin of the UNC Center for Civil Rights said while disappointed, “We’re going to be meeting with clients within a week,” to decide whether to appeal.
He said the clients will be the ones to decide whether to take the matter to the state Supreme Court. The strong dissent, he said, gives the plaintiffs the right to appeal. “The supreme court is where all the important decisions have been made.”
He said a recent decision by the UNC Board of Governors to ban advocacy by the Center for Civil Rights should not affect its role in the case. “The decision to ban advocacy specifically excludes matters we’re already working on.”
David Harvey, president of the Halifax County Chapter of the NAACP, which was a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said while the organization is disappointed with the decision, “Reading the dissent, we’re very, very happy that the chief judge recognized the merits of our case.”
Harvey said the case has bolstered “the positive education steps being taken now.”
He said those steps manifest themselves in major changes instituted by the county system. “They’ve brought in the STEM program, they’re now involved with the early college. Weldon has also improved and Roanoke Rapids has seen the need for an early college.”
Still, Harvey said, many children continue to not receive a sound education. “We still have the racial school lines in Roanoke Rapids. There have been improvements and we believe the NAACP and other plaintiffs spearheaded those improvements. We feel strongly with the dissent, whatever decision will be made (on appeal) will be in the best interest of the children of this county and the civil rights we face in this county.”
The dissent
In her dissent, Judge McGee wrote, “When the General Assembly assigns to boards of county commissioners the financial responsibility for aspects of public education, such as adequate facilities, equipment, water supplies, and learning materials, North Carolina schoolchildren must be able to pursue a declaratory action against those boards to assert that it has failed to adequately fund the aspects of public schooling assigned to it, and that such a failure has resulted in the lack of an opportunity to receive a sound basic education in our public schools.”
McGee said in their complaint, plaintiffs allege Halifax County Schools and Weldon City Schools lack the necessary resources to provide fundamental educational opportunities to the children in their school districts. Plaintiffs further complain of inadequate school facilities, crumbling ceilings, leaking pipes, sewage in the hallways, and a lack of adequate instructional materials in the majority-minority districts. “These deficiencies, plaintiffs allege, are a direct result of defendant’s funding choices, and have led to poor test scores by the schoolchildren and the inability to retain qualified teachers.
“Plaintiffs requested, in their complaint, that the court exercise its equitable powers and order the board to develop and implement a plan to remedy the constitutional violations of its present education delivery mechanism and to ensure that every student in Halifax County is provided the opportunity to receive a sound basic education.”
Wrote McGee: “I would hold that, to the extent plaintiffs’ complaint asserts that the children’s inability to receive a sound basic public education is a result of the board’s inadequate funding of buildings, supplies, and other resources, responsibility for which was assigned to it by the General Assembly, plaintiffs have stated a claim upon which relief may be granted to assert their constitutional rights to a sound basic public education.”
