KENANSVILLE — In the continuing saga of the Duplin County Board of Education’s lawsuit against the Duplin County Board of Commissioners, the stage has been set for another showdown in court.

The oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 1, in the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Raleigh. Hearing time is set for 9:30 a.m.

In requesting an update and more information regarding the appeal, both the school board and commissioners deferred to their attorneys. Duplin County attorney Wendy Sivori was quick in responding to a request for a comment on the matter. However, the school board’s firm, Schwartz & Shaw, Pllc, of Raleigh, failed to respond to repeated requests for a statement.

“An oral argument has been scheduled for Oct. 1 at the N.C. Court of Appeals in regards to the Duplin County Board of Education lawsuit versus the Duplin County Board of Commissioners based on the appeal filed by the Board of Commissioners,” Sivori confirmed.

“The Board of Commissioners is disputing the jury verdict entered against them as it relates to current expense funding for the school year 2008-09,” Sivori said.

The issue that was submitted to the jury was ‘what amount of money is needed from sources under the control of the board of county commissioners to maintain a system of free public schools?’ “One main issue to be argued at the Court of Appeals is whether the Board of Education submitted sufficient evidence as to ‘source under the control of the board of commissioners’ as no information was submitted to the jury as to the Duplin County tax rate and/or fund balance,” she added.

The county attorney further stated that they are looking forward to presenting their arguments at the Court of Appeals, “especially in light of the recent N.C. Supreme Court decision in the Beaufort County Board of Education versus the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners (case).”

Savori said she feels more confident following the high court’s decision and believes that the Court of Appeals will decide favorably for the commissioners.

The Supreme Court’s decision was to reverse and remand for a new trial based on the trial court’s instructions that invited the jury to step beyond its role of determining necessary funding and intrude upon the county commissioners’ constitutional discretion.

According to Sivori, this decision and interpretation of the North Carolina General statues by the state’s Supreme Court, gives the Appeals Court better information to form their decision on the pending Duplin case.

To contact Billy Todd, call 910-592-8137 ext. 117 or e-mail sigeneral@myclintonnc.com.