Attorneys will have 30 minutes each to make their arguments to the three judges which serve on the panel. An immediate ruling is not expected following the 1 p.m. arguments which will be held at the Court of Appeals on West Morgan Street in Raleigh.
County Attorney Glynn Rollins declined comment when asked about the matter today.
Plaintiffs in the case took the matter to the Court of Appeals after a superior court judge in January dismissed the original complaint filed by the county chapter of the NAACP, the Coalition for Education and Economic Security and parents and guardians in the county school system.
The Halifax County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said in a statement today the UNC Center for Civil Rights will ask the panel of three judges to reverse the trial court order dismissing the case issued by Judge Russell Duke in January.
“At stake is whether the county commissioners’ decision to maintain and operate three separate public school systems in Halifax County obstructs the opportunity for students to secure a sound basic education as guaranteed by the North Carolina Constitution,” the statement said. “The judges’ decision will determine if the case will go forward and the plaintiffs will be permitted to present evidence at trial in the matter.”
The NAACP said the appellate court has denied a motion by the county to dismiss a friend of the court brief.
That brief, according to the statement, was filed in support of the plaintiffs by Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice on behalf of Public Schools First NC. “The commissioners sought to exclude the brief, which detailed these organizations’ work with students in Halifax County and the lack of educational opportunities students face due to the misallocation of educational resources among the three school districts.”
The amicus brief, the statement said, “notes that at-risk students in Halifax’s racially isolated districts suffer inadequate educational programs, poor academic outcomes and disproportionately higher rates of student discipline.”
David Harvey, president of the county’s NAACP chapter, said in the statement, “The significance of this victory for the plaintiffs is twofold. One, the court can now consider information about the experiences of students in addition to those of the parents and guardians in the Silver versus Halifax case; and, two, advocacy organizations with statewide constituencies and resources are now actively engaged in seeking educational justice for Halifax County children. These are important developments in the case.”