Lawmakers vote to repeal Scotland County school floor law

LAURINBURG —State lawmakers voted this week to repeal the law known as the school floor, more than 60 years after it was first ratified.

On Wednesday, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted 59-52 to pass H.B. 58. The bill, titled “Various Local Elections,” includes language repealing the school funding floor, which came into play in 1963 when the General Assembly and the governor enacted a law that dictated a formula to which the county government adheres in deciding how much is spent on local schools. The law came at a time when the Scotland County and Laurinburg City school districts were merging during integration.

Six Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against the bill this week along with 46 Democrats, including Rep. Garland Pierce. All 59 votes for the bill represented the Republican Party.

“I remain convinced that the School Floor has done more good than harm for Scotland County, and that more time should have been taken to consider alternative solutions before this bill was passed,” Pierce said. “That is why I fought against it since it was introduced. However, all we can do at this point is move forward. I understand that opposition was not 100% unanimous across the county, and we must respect those who have been elected by the people.”

Sen. Danny Earl Britt initially introduced S.B. 127, titled “Lower Taxes for Scotland County,” back on Feb. 21 after Scotland County Commissioners, in a vote of 5-1, passed a resolution requesting state lawmakers repeal the school floor. Britt said that he had support from both sides of the aisle to move the bill forward, but he saw an opportunity to expedite the repeal by amending the pre-existing H.B. 58, which was introduced on Feb. 2.

“I knew there was a desire to move that house bill forward quickly,” Britt said. “I saw the opportunity to amend that with the Scotland County language.”

Britt said his senate bill “would have taken another three or four months before it would have passed and (the) county and the school board need to go ahead and start working on the budget for next year.”

Language in the new law directs the school board to “submit to the Scotland County Board of Commissioners, at the same time the other school budgets are filed, a budget request for operational and capital funding in amounts that would provide an appropriate education to all students in Scotland County during that fiscal year.

“In evaluating the request, the board of commissioners shall consider the educational goals and policies of the State and the local board of education, the budgetary request of the board of education, the financial resources of the county and the board of education, and the fiscal policies of the board of county commissioners and the board of education.”

Ultimately, the law allows the board of commissioners to determine the amount of county revenues to be appropriated to the board of education’s local current expense fund and capital outlay fund for fiscal year 2025-2026 and thereafter.

The law also bars the Board of Education and the Scotland County Board of Commissioners from initiating a dispute resolution process or filing any legal action challenging the determination of funds to be appropriated by the board of commissioners.

“At the time the law was created, I think it was necessary,” Britt told The Laurinburg Exchange. “It was necessary to ensure that Laurinburg City Schools and Scotland County Schools were both funded adequately. I think 100% that those folks back in 1963, when that was done, they had the interest of the citizens of Scotland County in mind.”

Britt said, “Anytime after that,” he thinks differently.

“It has been an absolute detriment to the county,” Britt said.

Scotland County has the highest tax rate in the state and is ranked a Tier 1 county by the NC Department of Commerce. The 40 most economically distressed counties are designated as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3.

Britt said that since he was first elected into office in 2022, commissioners and business owners have contacted him about repealing the school floor. He said the law has also hindered economic growth in Scotland County.

“This seemed like an important issue to address,” Britt said. “Anytime one county in the state does things differently than every other county in the state, to me, that turns up a red flag. Maybe that’s not the right way to do business… It makes no sense at all how anyone could ever believe that the way Scotland County is doing business differently from every other county in the state is the right way to do business.”

At a budget meeting on Wednesday, Superintendent Adell Baldwin told commissioners that the majority of the school district’s schools have either met or exceeded growth despite being labeled a low-performing school district.

However, Britt said the school district has struggled despite the school floor.

“The outcomes have not been improving and the citizens of Scotland County have continued to suffer under that school floor tax … The schools need to be funded but the issue is, there are a lot of other things in the county that need to be funded as well,” Britt said.

The repeal came the same day Baldwin pitched the school district’s request for $10 million in local funding and an additional $300,000 in Capital fund, which is the current year’s funding amount.

During a Liason Committee meeting between both board, Commissioner Tim Ivey presented a figure of $9,750,000 that the board of commissioners came to an agreement on during a previous budget meeting. The figure, which includes capital funds, would represent a $550,000 drop from the current fiscal year’s spending.

“I just hope that the county commissioners and the school board can come together and work together for the betterment of the Scotland County School system and that entails everybody working with the teachers and students. That’s the bottom line,” Rep. Pierce said.

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