KINGS MOUNTAIN BD. v. NC BD. OF EDUC.

• Decision Date: 05 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. COA02-529.,COA02-529.
• Citation: 583 S.E.2d 629,159 NC App. 568
• Parties: KINGS MOUNTAIN BOARD OF EDUCATION, Larry Allen, Melony Bolin, Ronald Hawkins, Shearra Miller, Stella Putman, Joanne Cole, Otis Cole, Charlie Smith, Frank Smith, Angela Smith, Petitioners, v. NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Respondent, and Cleveland County Board of Commissioners, Respondent/Intervenor.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

583 S.E.2d 629

159 NC App. 568

KINGS MOUNTAIN BOARD OF EDUCATION, Larry Allen, Melony Bolin, Ronald Hawkins, Shearra Miller, Stella Putman, Joanne Cole, Otis Cole, Charlie Smith, Frank Smith, Angela Smith, Petitioners, v. NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Respondent, and Cleveland County Board of Commissioners, Respondent/Intervenor.

No. COA02-529.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

August 5, 2003.

Schwartz & Shaw, P.L.L.C., by Richard A. Schwartz and Brian C. Shaw, Raleigh, for petitioner appellants.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Special Deputy Attorney General Thomas J. Ziko and Assistant Attorney General Laura E. Crumpler, for respondent appellee.

TIMMONS-GOODSON, Judge.

The Kings Mountain Board of Education ("Kings Mountain Board"), along with individual Kings Mountain Board members and parents of children attending public school in the Kings Mountain School District (collectively, "petitioners") appeal from an order and judgment of the trial court affirming a decision by the North Carolina State Board of Education. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The pertinent substantive and procedural facts of the instant appeal are as follows: On 7 November 2000, petitioners filed a petition in Wake County Superior Court seeking judicial review of a final decision by the North Carolina State Board of Education ("State Board"). The final decision by the State Board, dated 13 September 2000, approved a plan submitted by the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners to merge three independent school systems in Cleveland County: (1) the Cleveland County Schools; (2) the Shelby City Schools; and (3) the Kings Mountain District Schools.

In their petition for judicial review, petitioners objected to the school merger, asserting that the Kings Mountain School District was located in both Cleveland County and neighboring Gaston County. Petitioners asserted that, because the town of Kings Mountain extended into Gaston County, the school district also extended into Gaston County. As the Gaston County Board of Commissioners had not approved or adopted the plan of merger, petitioners argued that the merger was unlawful. Petitioners therefore contended the 13 September 2000 decision by the State Board approving the merger plan was erroneous as a matter of law, arbitrary and capricious, and in excess of the State Board's authority. Petitioners moreover asserted that the decision was procedurally flawed. Petitioners' case came before the trial court on 23 July 2001. After reviewing the evidence and arguments by the parties, the trial court rejected petitioners' claims and entered an order and judgment affirming the decision of the State Board. From this order and judgment, petitioners appeal.

The fundamental question on appeal is whether the legal boundaries of the Kings Mountain School District extend into Gaston County. Petitioners assert that they do, arguing that (1) the Kings Mountain School District is authorized to automatically expand under legislation establishing the school district; (2) the Kings Mountain School District enjoys de facto legal existence in Gaston County; and (3) the Kings Mountain School District exists within Gaston County under principles of estoppel. Petitioners further contend that the decision of the trial court is procedurally flawed. For the reasons stated hereafter, we conclude that the Kings Mountain School District is located wholly within Cleveland County, and we affirm the order and judgment of the trial court.

In reviewing a final agency decision pursuant to section 150B-51 of the North Carolina General Statutes, a trial court may reverse or modify the agency's decision if it is: (1) in violation of constitutional provisions; (2) in excess of the statutory authority or jurisdiction of the agency; (3) made upon unlawful procedure; (4) affected by other error of law; (5) unsupported by substantial evidence in view of the entire record as submitted; or (6) arbitrary or capricious. See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 150B-51(b) (2001). Both parties agree that the trial court conducted a de novo review of petitioners' claims that the State Board's decision was made upon unlawful procedure, erroneous as a matter of law, arbitrary and capricious, and in excess of the State Board's authority, and that this was the appropriate standard of review. We must therefore determine whether the trial court correctly applied the de novo scope of review to the facts of the instant case. See Smith v. Richmond Cty. Bd. of Educ., 150 N.C.App. 291, 295-96, 563 S.E.2d 258, 263-64 (2002),

disc. review denied, 356 N.C. 678, 577 S.E.2d 296 (2003).

Under statutory law, "[t]he board of commissioners of a county in which two or more local school administrative units are located, but all are located wholly within the county, may adopt a plan for the consolidation and merger of the units into a single countywide unit." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 115C-68.1(a) (2001) (emphasis added). The State Board of Education must approve the plan of merger. See N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 115C-67 et. seq. (2001). However, where "one local school administrative unit is located in [two] counties," the boards of commissioners of both counties must jointly adopt any plan of merger. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 115-68.1(b) (2001). Petitioners contend that the Kings Mountain School District is not "located wholly within" Cleveland County based on several grounds. We address these arguments in turn.

1905 Act

Petitioners argue that, under Chapter 381 of the 1905 Private Laws of North Carolina ("the 1905 Act"), the boundaries of the Kings Mountain School District are coterminous with the boundaries of the town of Kings Mountain. Petitioners thus assert that, when the town of Kings Mountain annexed territory in Gaston County during the 1960's, the annexation likewise expanded the boundaries of the school district. The relevant language of the 1905 Act establishing the Kings Mountain School District is as follows:

SECTION 1. That all the territory embraced in the incorporate limits of the town of Kings Mountain shall be and is hereby constituted the "Kings Mountain Graded School District" for white and colored children.

....

SEC. 8. Provided, that the trustees of the said graded school of Kings Mountain shall have the right to admit students from outside of the incorporate limits of Kings Mountain and make a reasonable charge for tuition for the same.

1905 N.C. Private Sess. Laws ch. 381, §§ 1,8. Petitioners argue that the words "shall be" in Section One of the 1905 Act are prospective and indicate that the General Assembly intended for the Kings Mountain School District to expand with any future expansions of the town. Section Eight indicates that any child residing within the town limits of Kings Mountain may attend school without paying tuition. As further support for their argument, petitioners note that the General Assembly ratified legislation creating the school district for the town of Asheboro, North Carolina, on the same day as the 1905 Act. The Asheboro charter recites as follows:

SECTION 1. That all the territory lying within the corporate limits of the town of Ashboro, as the boundaries of said town are on the first day of April, one thousand nine hundred and five, shall constitute a public school district for the white and colored children and shall be known and designated as "Ashboro Graded School District."

1905 N.C. Private Sess. Laws ch. 413, § 1. Petitioners contend that, unlike the 1905 Act establishing the Kings Mountain School District, the legislation establishing the Asheboro School District specifically limits the boundaries of the school district to the town boundaries as they existed on 1 April 1905. Petitioners argue the difference between the two acts indicates the General Assembly intended for the boundaries of the Kings Mountain School District to automatically expand if and when the boundaries of the town were extended. We disagree.

"A municipality has only such powers as the legislature confers upon it." Koontz v. City of Winston-Salem, 280 N.C. 513, 520, 186 S.E.2d 897, 902 (1972); Homebuilders Assn. of Charlotte v. City of Charlotte, 336 N.C. 37, 41-42, 442 S.E.2d 45, 49 (1994). Such power may be granted through express language, or it may be implied as incidental to the powers expressly granted. See Homebuilders Assn. of Charlotte, 336 N.C. at 42, 442 S.E.2d at 49. Further, a municipality may exercise such powers as are essential to the purposes of the corporation. See id. Here, petitioners contend that the town of Kings Mountain has the authority to unilaterally expand the boundaries of the school district upon expansion of the town. The ability to create the boundaries of a school district is vested solely within the power of the legislature, however. See Moore v. Board of Education, 212 N.C. 499, 502, 193 S.E. 732, 733-34 (1937); McCormac v. Commissioners, 90 N.C. 441, 444-45 (1884). Thus, a municipality may not expand its school district boundaries without an express or implied delegation of legislative authority. See School District Committee v. Board of Education, 236 N.C. 216, 218, 72 S.E.2d 429, 430 (1952)

(noting "the law may confer upon school authorities the discretionary authority to create or consolidate school districts"); Moore, 212 N.C. at 502, 193 S.E. at 733-34; McCormac, 90 N.C. at 445.

The language of the 1905 Act contains no express delegation of legislative authority to the town of Kings Mountain allowing it to unilaterally expand the legal boundaries of the Kings Mountain School District. Nor may such a power be fairly implied from the language. Notably, at the time of the 1905 Act, the town of Kings Mountain was without authority to annex territory. See Abbott v. Town of Highlands, 52 N.C.App. 69, 73, 277 S.E.2d 820, 823

(noting that, before 1947, town annexation could only occur pursuant to special legislative act), disc. review denied, 303 N.C. 710, 283 S.E.2d 136 (...