Mediation is an option in the lawsuit filed against the Halifax County Board of Commissioners regarding the three separate school systems in the county.
County Attorney Glynn Rollins said having a mediator is a requirement in civil suits.
“Right now we don't know,” Rollins said when asked whether that might be an option in the matter.
The only ruling Judge Russell Duke made today was to appoint Wilson Judge Albert Thomas as the mediator should the parties decide that's the way to go. He will take the five briefs the county filed, including one to dismiss the entire lawsuit, under advisement.
The county filed five briefs that seek to dismiss the action; dismiss attorney fees; dismiss certain parties; dismiss for failure to join necessary parties and a motion to strike.
David Harvey, president of the Halifax County chapter of the NAACP, which is one of the plaintiffs in the case, said following the proceedings mediation is what the organization has sought all along. “That was never the issue. You have to have parties willing to talk.”
Duke, in allowing Thomas to be mediator, said from the bench, “Mediation helps parties to talk.”
During hearings on the county's motions, Rollins contended in his closing arguments the Leandro ruling to provide a sound, basic education, “Applies to the state. The commissioners' direct role is limited to funding. The legislators say we must fund. The county has no authority to set policy or to engage in planning. The state law that allows legislators to merge schools is unconstitutional.”
Mark Dorosin, of the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the county chapter of the NAACP and the Coalition for Education and Economic Security, as well as several parents and students, countered, “The school board is dependent on the county commissioners for funding and resource allocations.”
He said the current system, funding three separate school systems, is inefficient. “The constitution says every child has the right to a good, solid basic education.”
Duke opened up another avenue, when he asked, beyond merger, what else could be done to better education in the county.
“More resources, more programs,” Dorosin replied, as well as allowing students the opportunity to take classes outside their districts when they don't have them within their own.
“Why not let students have the opportunity to attend classes outside their district?” Duke asked.
The county declined to immediately discuss that proposal following the proceedings.
Depending on how the judge rules, the case could go to trial by October.
