No total yet on school lawsuit's expense

By: Steve Welker | Morganton News Herald
Published: October 29, 2009

Morganton, NC --

Eight weeks ago today, a judge issued his ruling in the school board's lawsuit against the county commissioners.
No one knows yet how much the lawsuit cost Burke County's taxpayers.
Neither the school board's law firm, Schwartz & Shaw of Raleigh, nor the county commissioners' special counsel, Larry McMahon of Byrd Byrd Ervin McMahon & Denton in Morganton, have submitted their bills for work on the lawsuit in August and September.
Paul Ijames, assistant county manager and finance officer, said Tuesday the judge has not signed his final orders in the case. Ijames speculated that the lawyers' bills won't come in until after the order brings the lawsuit to a formal conclusion.
Cleveland County trial court coordinator June Albright said Judge Donald Bridges of Shelby told her he intends to finish work on the order while he's here in Burke County this week.
The lawsuit followed a fruitless month of public meetings, closed-door negotiations and official mediation during July when the school board and the county commissioners tried to settle a disagreement about the county's appropriation to the school district for 2009-10.
The dispute began when commissioners committed the county to give the schools slightly more than the $14.1 million the school board requested for 2009-10. At the same time, the commissioners withheld about $364,000 for the schools' 6900 (administrative) fund because of concerns about the school board's spending.
The board of education sued on Aug. 5, claiming the commissioners hadn't given it enough money to operate the schools. The school board also asked the court to enforce the 2005 and 2008 consent agreements on distribution of property taxes, which could have given the schools hundreds of thousands more dollars.
Preliminary hearings started Aug. 24 and the trial itself began Aug. 27. It ended six days later when the judge awarded the schools a net increase of $21,000 in local support.
Both before and after the long courtroom sessions, lawyers on both sides spent hours preparing their cases. In addition to the two special counsels, schools attorney Jon Jones and county attorney Redmond Dill worked on the lawsuit.
Schwartz & Shaw filed its latest bill, totaling $30,754, on Oct. 23. It does not include any charges for services related to the budget dispute or the consent decrees. However, it itemizes nearly $16,000 for expenses from Aug. 11 through Sept. 30.
The expenses between Aug. 23 and Sept. 4 total nearly $12,000, including approximately $6,000 for photocopies, $4,300 for food and lodging for partners Richard Schwartz and Brian Shaw and their assistant and $1,600 for travel between Morganton and Raleigh.
The invoice includes $8,494 through Aug. 31 for professional services related to the search for a new school superintendent. The school board hired Dr. Art Stellar on Sept. 29. Schwartz & Shaw to date has billed the school board $17,125 for work on the superintendent search.
Schwartz & Shaw billed the schools an additional $2,275 for work through Sept. 30 on former Superintendent David Burleson's contract buyout, bringing the law firm's total since May to approximately $22,300.
Schwartz & Shaw added nearly $4,000 through Sept. 30 to the running tab (now nearly $9,600) for helping the school board deal with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. SACS CASI put the district's high schools on accreditation probation on Aug. 25.
Schwartz & Shaw's bills total $143,810 since May when the school board initially hired the firm to defend it against a series of lawsuits, including some still pending.
During the same period, Jones' firm billed the schools $37,667 for his legal services.
The school board budgeted $65,000 for legal fees and attorneys' expenses for 2009-10. The legal expenses since July 1 total approximately $116,000.

No total yet on school lawsuit's expense

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