Owners Given 30 Days to Accept Offer or Have Property Taken
The Greenville County School Board engaged in a heated discussion during their May 29 regular monthly meeting, regarding whether to take private property bordering Greenville High School to expand the school’s athletic fields.
Following lengthy debate, the board voted to take the property using their eminent domain powers if the elderly owners of the property do not agree to School District terms within 30 days.
Dr. Grady Butler argued that eminent domain should not be used to “move around elderly people.” He was joined in his opposition by Leola Robinson-Simpson, who insisted that the school board needs to recognize the right of property owners before using eminent domain to take property by government force. “Do the right thing the right way,” Robinson-Simpson urged.
Only District 18 board member Patrick Sudduth opposed the use of eminent domain on the final vote.
Advocates for using eminent domain powers to take the property for use as athletic fields at Greenville High School said the owners had refused to accept double the appraised purchase price of the property.
Regarding other matters, the board heard complaints from a representative of the NAACP regarding the jailing of two female Lakeview Middle School students who refused to stop yelling and fighting on school property causing a disturbance. Eventually the Resource Officer called for backup, arrested the two teenagers and they were held in jail for three days over a weekend when no judge was allegedly available to set bond and allow them to be released.
Critics complain that misbehaving students should be disciplined by school administrators and not turned over to police officers and processed as criminals. School administrators respond that if verbal persuasion fails, they have no choice but to call on law enforcement for assistance in preventing violence from spilling over into the classrooms and disrupting the education process.
In the meantime, the Greenville County Auditor has responded to the school district lawsuit that asks the court to rule on conflicting interpretations of the law with regard to school taxes.
The auditor recently discovered that the Greenville County school board, in his view, collected taxes in excess of that authorized by law. Several citizens have filed claims requesting a refund to no avail. In his response to the school district lawsuit, the auditor joins the school district in requesting the court rule on the proper applicaton of relevant South Carolina revenue laws with respect to operating millage for the School District of Greenville County.
|
