Attorneys for the Lamar County School Board are expected to file a supplemental brief after a State Supreme Court judge wanted clarification of how state laws apply to the lawsuit challenging the consolidation of the Lamar County and Lumberton school districts.
Lamar County School Board Attorney Rick Norton said he has until July 25 to file the brief.
Lamar County School Board Attorney Rick Norton
“The court just asked us to submit a supplemental brief on a question they had on a statute,” he said. “It said they want to look at this statute and see if it applies.”
Associate Justice Josiah D. Coleman filed the order on June 11 requesting decisions from other jurisdictions that would address whether the Pearl River Board of Supervisors and School Board are defined as “persons” in Mississippi statutes about a legal definition and appeals of school board orders.
Attorneys for the Pearl River entities filed their supplemental brief July 11 and said the statutes did not apply to the case.
Oral arguments were scheduled July 19, but will be rescheduled after the supplemental briefs are filed.
The lawsuit challenging the consolidation of the Lamar County and Lumberton school districts – which have been working together since July 2018 – was filed after an 11-person commission recommended the voluntary consolidation. After Lamar County received legislative approval to consolidate, Chancellor Deborah Gambrell ruled for the consolidation, and the Pearl River County supervisors and school board appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Pearl River County, County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin
Pearl River County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said in a report he was concerned about the long-term operation of Lumberton campuses.
“Because everyone you talk to says that they don’t plan to operate the school as a K-12, so it will become an elementary school in a couple of years, and high school kids will need to travel to Purvis,” he said. “We’re talking about kids going twice as far to get to school as opposed to coming to Poplarville.”