Part 5: Back to court and a merger vote
As the new decade of the 1980s rolled around, Jackson County’s three school systems were locked in a scrum to see who could outmaneuver whom politically.
The county school board, now mostly free of political influence by city leaders, was determined to upgrade the county education system and moved Jackson County High School from Braselton to Jefferson in 1979, a move that shocked both Jefferson and Commerce.
Commerce leaders had bungled school merger talks with the county system and as a result, lost 200 high school students in 1979 to the county system when it moved the high school.
For its part, Jefferson school leaders wanted no part of a school system merger, but they were under increasing pressure from their own patrons to become more open and from the threat that the new JCHS in Jefferson could pull more students away, potentially devastating the system financially.
In 1980, all those pressures came to a head. First, the county school system had legislation introduced allowing its members to be elected directly by its citizens rather than appointed by what many considered the political manipulation of the Grand Jury.
In addition, the county BOE got rid of its chairman in 1980 after he had sided with the other two school systems in a call for the county to turn back the clock and go back to the old 1950s era attendance contracts. That move was seen by county school patrons as treasonous and the backlash was swift; the chairman soon resigned, opening the way for a younger, more aggressive chairman to take the helm of the BOE. Both legally and psychologically, those two actions in early 1980 greatly strengthened the political standing of the county BOE. It was no longer considered a puppet of the city school leadership.
But of even more importance, all three systems ended up back in court in 1980. The county system sued the Jefferson system in Superior Court over some state rebate money it believed belonged to the county. But that issue quickly turned into the question of whether or not county students who lived in the unincorporated “Jefferson attendance area” could attend county schools where their parents paid taxes, or whether they would be forced to attend Jefferson schools.
The judge ruled in Jefferson’s favor, in effect forcing county students to attend JHS if they lived in the 1952 attendance zone. (The county school system appealed and that matter was later settled out of court.)
Meanwhile, the real battleground was in the federal courts. Jefferson filed suit in federal court over the same attendance issue in a bid to have the feds mandate those students stay at Jefferson and not be allowed to attend the new JCHS. Since the federal court at the time was still technically in an oversight position of the schools from the integration of 1969-1970, Jefferson was leveraging that to address the attendance issue.
In the background of all the litigation, there were further calls for school system merger to put an end to all the bickering. Citizens groups met and representatives of the three BOEs met on and off for a time. In the end, however, it was all for naught.
By this time, Jefferson school leaders were under intense pressure because of the new JCHS. And although they were arguing in court, Jefferson leaders knew that it would only be a matter of time before the courts washed their hands of the entire mess. The schools were desegregated by the early 1980s; there was no real legal reason for the federal court to continue to be involved in the systems’ local disputes that had little to do with desegregation.
Because of that mounting pressure, in 1981 Jefferson school leaders, for the first time, said they were open to talking about system merger. Talks went back and forth for weeks.
Then in 1982, legislation was introduced to merge the three school systems. Many people like the proposal, but it wasn’t popular in the county school system. The plan had created a two-year “interim board of education” with two members appointed by each of the city school boards and four members appointed by the county school board.
County school patrons didn’t like the interim board because it wasn’t proportional to the county’s population, which was mostly outside the two towns. They wanted a direct elected board, fearing the two cities would gang up on the county members during the two-year interim board provision. There was no trust between county school patrons and the two city school systems.
In the end, county voters defeated the plan while voters in the two cities supported it. For the first, and last time, everyone got to vote on the merger idea in Jackson County and it died at the ballot box (it had to pass in all three districts to become law.)
That defeat left the courts as the last field on which the school systems would fight. Lawsuits and counter suits and multiple court motions flew at a rapid pace in the early 1980s. Although efforts toward finding an agreeable solution continued, the defeat of the 1982 merger legislation had effectively ended hopes of a political solution to the merger issue.
But having the courts as the main battleground wouldn’t last forever. Even as the 1982 legislation was being debated, the federal court outlined a plan by which the Jefferson and Jackson County systems would decide which students attended JHS and which would attend JCHS. Both boards had to agree to a sharing plan, but Jefferson refused to release any of its county students to attend the new JCHS. Instead, Jefferson mandated that all rising 9th Graders in the old 1952 Jefferson attendance zone had to go to JHS the next year. That action infuriated many of the parents of those county children and hardened the debate even more.
Still, the handwriting was on the wall for Jefferson’s forced attendance policy. The judge also said in his 1982 ruling that the courts would, by 1985, get out of its oversight of the school systems since the schools were desegregated. In effect, the judge was telling Jefferson it only had three years left of court protection.
Although Jefferson school leaders fought the exit of the courts strongly — they even claimed that JCHS would become “overcrowded” if students were given freedom of choice — the court washed its hands of the entire matter in 1985. Jefferson appealed, but lost the following year.
So in 1986, for the first time since 1952, county students in the old Jefferson attendance area were free to attend the school of their choice. The county school system, after years of bitter fighting, was able to chart its own course untethered by contracts or court actions to either the Jefferson or Commerce school systems. Jackson County’s education world had been turned upside down.
The court action didn’t end calls for school system merger. Various groups continued to push for that goal, including this author who was part of a failed 1991 merger effort.
Yet the political landscape changed dramatically after the courts got out of the way. Now on their own and having fewer students, both Jefferson and Commerce school systems faced tremendous financial pressure. As a result, they both began annexing land around those two towns in a bid to get a larger tax base to support their independent school systems.
But every acre annexed into Jefferson or Commerce was also nibbling away at the county school system’s tax base.
The focus of school merger shifted as a result; no longer was education parity or cost savings the reason to talk about merger. The county school system had begun to improve its high school and too much money had already been spent on facilities for either of those issues to be very important.
After 1986, the focus on school merger came from the fight over annexation. If the county didn’t stop the cities’ annexations, it would eventually erode the county school system’s tax base.
The merger fight continued, but without the old issues. Annexation was now the main focus of school merger talks, but that issue held less passion than the older concerns. Merger talks didn’t die, but they cooled considerably.
Next week: Annexation issue settled and merger talks evaporate
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Commerce leaders had bungled school merger talks with the county system and as a result, lost 200 high school students in 1979 to the county system when it moved the high school.
For its part, Jefferson school leaders wanted no part of a school system merger, but they were under increasing pressure from their own patrons to become more open and from the threat that the new JCHS in Jefferson could pull more students away, potentially devastating the system financially.
In 1980, all those pressures came to a head. First, the county school system had legislation introduced allowing its members to be elected directly by its citizens rather than appointed by what many considered the political manipulation of the Grand Jury.
In addition, the county BOE got rid of its chairman in 1980 after he had sided with the other two school systems in a call for the county to turn back the clock and go back to the old 1950s era attendance contracts. That move was seen by county school patrons as treasonous and the backlash was swift; the chairman soon resigned, opening the way for a younger, more aggressive chairman to take the helm of the BOE. Both legally and psychologically, those two actions in early 1980 greatly strengthened the political standing of the county BOE. It was no longer considered a puppet of the city school leadership.
But of even more importance, all three systems ended up back in court in 1980. The county system sued the Jefferson system in Superior Court over some state rebate money it believed belonged to the county. But that issue quickly turned into the question of whether or not county students who lived in the unincorporated “Jefferson attendance area” could attend county schools where their parents paid taxes, or whether they would be forced to attend Jefferson schools.
The judge ruled in Jefferson’s favor, in effect forcing county students to attend JHS if they lived in the 1952 attendance zone. (The county school system appealed and that matter was later settled out of court.)
Meanwhile, the real battleground was in the federal courts. Jefferson filed suit in federal court over the same attendance issue in a bid to have the feds mandate those students stay at Jefferson and not be allowed to attend the new JCHS. Since the federal court at the time was still technically in an oversight position of the schools from the integration of 1969-1970, Jefferson was leveraging that to address the attendance issue.
In the background of all the litigation, there were further calls for school system merger to put an end to all the bickering. Citizens groups met and representatives of the three BOEs met on and off for a time. In the end, however, it was all for naught.
By this time, Jefferson school leaders were under intense pressure because of the new JCHS. And although they were arguing in court, Jefferson leaders knew that it would only be a matter of time before the courts washed their hands of the entire mess. The schools were desegregated by the early 1980s; there was no real legal reason for the federal court to continue to be involved in the systems’ local disputes that had little to do with desegregation.
Because of that mounting pressure, in 1981 Jefferson school leaders, for the first time, said they were open to talking about system merger. Talks went back and forth for weeks.
Then in 1982, legislation was introduced to merge the three school systems. Many people like the proposal, but it wasn’t popular in the county school system. The plan had created a two-year “interim board of education” with two members appointed by each of the city school boards and four members appointed by the county school board.
County school patrons didn’t like the interim board because it wasn’t proportional to the county’s population, which was mostly outside the two towns. They wanted a direct elected board, fearing the two cities would gang up on the county members during the two-year interim board provision. There was no trust between county school patrons and the two city school systems.
In the end, county voters defeated the plan while voters in the two cities supported it. For the first, and last time, everyone got to vote on the merger idea in Jackson County and it died at the ballot box (it had to pass in all three districts to become law.)
That defeat left the courts as the last field on which the school systems would fight. Lawsuits and counter suits and multiple court motions flew at a rapid pace in the early 1980s. Although efforts toward finding an agreeable solution continued, the defeat of the 1982 merger legislation had effectively ended hopes of a political solution to the merger issue.
But having the courts as the main battleground wouldn’t last forever. Even as the 1982 legislation was being debated, the federal court outlined a plan by which the Jefferson and Jackson County systems would decide which students attended JHS and which would attend JCHS. Both boards had to agree to a sharing plan, but Jefferson refused to release any of its county students to attend the new JCHS. Instead, Jefferson mandated that all rising 9th Graders in the old 1952 Jefferson attendance zone had to go to JHS the next year. That action infuriated many of the parents of those county children and hardened the debate even more.
Still, the handwriting was on the wall for Jefferson’s forced attendance policy. The judge also said in his 1982 ruling that the courts would, by 1985, get out of its oversight of the school systems since the schools were desegregated. In effect, the judge was telling Jefferson it only had three years left of court protection.
Although Jefferson school leaders fought the exit of the courts strongly — they even claimed that JCHS would become “overcrowded” if students were given freedom of choice — the court washed its hands of the entire matter in 1985. Jefferson appealed, but lost the following year.
So in 1986, for the first time since 1952, county students in the old Jefferson attendance area were free to attend the school of their choice. The county school system, after years of bitter fighting, was able to chart its own course untethered by contracts or court actions to either the Jefferson or Commerce school systems. Jackson County’s education world had been turned upside down.
The court action didn’t end calls for school system merger. Various groups continued to push for that goal, including this author who was part of a failed 1991 merger effort.
Yet the political landscape changed dramatically after the courts got out of the way. Now on their own and having fewer students, both Jefferson and Commerce school systems faced tremendous financial pressure. As a result, they both began annexing land around those two towns in a bid to get a larger tax base to support their independent school systems.
But every acre annexed into Jefferson or Commerce was also nibbling away at the county school system’s tax base.
The focus of school merger shifted as a result; no longer was education parity or cost savings the reason to talk about merger. The county school system had begun to improve its high school and too much money had already been spent on facilities for either of those issues to be very important.
After 1986, the focus on school merger came from the fight over annexation. If the county didn’t stop the cities’ annexations, it would eventually erode the county school system’s tax base.
The merger fight continued, but without the old issues. Annexation was now the main focus of school merger talks, but that issue held less passion than the older concerns. Merger talks didn’t die, but they cooled considerably.
Next week: Annexation issue settled and merger talks evaporate
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
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