Haywood board answers lawsuit over school closing

WAYNESVILLE - An attorney for the Haywood County school board is asking a judge to throw out a request for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit over the closing of Central Elementary.

The school closed in June, making the question of an injunction to prevent closure "moot," according to the attorney for the school board Pat Smathers. Staff members have moved into other jobs, and students have been reassigned to other schools.

“The preliminary injunction is to prevent something from happening. It’s already happened. There’s no school to stop from being closed. It no longer exists,” Smathers said Friday.

The school district is also seeking a $1 million bond if the motion to dismiss the injunction request is denied in order to cover the possible costs of reopening the school.

Smathers filed motions to dismiss, a motion for bond and sanctions and answer to the initial complaint Friday.

The motions are in response to a lawsuit from attorney and Central parent Mark Melrose.

Melrose filed his complaint in May following a decision by the Haywood school board to close Central Elementary.

School officials have said the district was closing Central Elementary to help make up a $2.4 million budget deficit brought on by declining enrollment and budget cuts. The school board voted to close the school despite pleas from parents and staff to keep it open.

Melrose sought the preliminary injunction. His complaint alleged the school district failed to conduct a thorough study on the effects of closing the school. He also alleged school board members violated the state’s Open Meetings law during their discussions.

In their answer, school officials deny those claims.

“We complied with the Open Meetings law,” Smathers said Friday.

The school district also asked to dismiss the complaint because it was filed against the Haywood County Board of Education. The legal name of the board is the Haywood County Consolidated School Board of Education, according to the court documents.

Smathers said a hearing on some of the issues in the case has been set for July 18.

Melrose could not be reached to comment Friday.