June 22, 1994
E. Bedford Cannon 140 East Water Street Statesville, NC 28677
Re: Advisory Opinion; Mooresville Graded School District
Dear Mr. Cannon:
In your recent letter, you asked for our opinion concerning the following two questions:
- When the City of Mooresville, North Carolina expands its corporate limits by annexation of areas contiguous to the existing Mooresville city limits, do the newly annexed areas automatically become a part of The Mooresville Graded School District?
- When the City of Mooresville, North Carolina expands its corporate limits by satelliteannexation, do the newly annexed satellite areas automatically become a part of The Mooresville Graded School District?
A city school system, in our opinion, has no inherent authority to expand unilaterally its size and by virtue of that expansion remove students and taxable property from its sister county school system. See, Vaughn v. Commissioners of Forsyth County, 118 N.C. 636, 640-42 (1896); see also, G.S. 115C-73 (authorizing expansion of city school system by mutual agreement of city and county school systems). The power of unilateral expansion exists only where expressly conferred by the General Assembly. A review of the relevant local acts and general laws reveals no authority for unilateral expansion of The Mooresville Graded School District based on the City of Mooresville’s expansion of its city limits. In our opinion, therefore, the answer to both questions is no.
The Mooresville Graded School District was originally created in 1905 by an act of the General Assembly. 1905 Sess. Laws ch 556. In section 1 of the 1905 act, The Mooresville Graded School District was defined by a metes and bounds description which included the territory then within the corporate limits of the town of Mooresville and areas outside the then existing corporate limits of the town of Mooresville. At the time of the act, the boundary lines of The Mooresville Graded School District were not coterminous with the City of Mooresville. Furthermore, there is no language in the act indicating that the boundaries of The Mooresville Graded School District would expand to become coterminous with the boundaries of the City of Mooresville in the event the city expanded its corporate limits.
In 1933, the General Assembly enacted the School Machinery Act to provide state financial support for an eight-month school term. 1933 Sess. Laws ch 562. That act first abolished all school districts, including special charter districts that operated as city school systems. The act further provided that each county was to be classified as an administrative unit for the operation of schools and that the State School Commission, with the advice of the county boards of education, was to redistrict each county it deemed necessary for the economical administration and operation of the state school system. In addition, it authorized the reestablishment of city administrative units when certain conditions existed. In accordance with the provisions of the act,
in July 1933, the State School Commission approved The Mooresville Graded School District as
a city administrative unit defining the boundary lines for the city administrative unit using the
same metes and bounds description found in the original act of 1905. A copy of the
Commission’s minutes is attached. Since the State School Commission’s action in 1933, there has
been no legislation enacted by the General Assembly regarding the boundaries or expansion of
the boundaries of The Mooresville Graded School District. In sum, it is our opinion that The
Mooresville Graded School District does not have the authority to expand its boundaries
whenever the City of Mooresville expands its city limits either by annexing contiguous areas or
satellite areas.
Edwin M. Speas, Jr.
Senior Deputy Attorney General
Thomas J. Ziko
Special Deputy Attorney General