From the Southern Pines Pilot (8/6/10): Neighborhood Youth Leadership operating as Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School, along with others, filed a lawsuit against five STARS board members today.
Shanahan Law Group, of Raleigh, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against John Langley, Al Haltiwanger, Bonnie McPeake, O’Linda Gillis and Larry Graham — all referred to in the complaint as “holdover” board members who have violated the STARS charter by overstaying their term limits.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Fred Walden, Steven George and Cathy Buchan in their capacity as members of the STARS board members, the STARS Parent-Teacher Organization and parents of students, citing that the board members in question are jeopardizing the school’s viability.
In June, the board members voted to eliminate George and Buchan from the board as one of several amendments to the charter’s bylaws. The State Board of Education did not approve the amendments because the board members voting on them were in violation of their term limits.
Besides the violation of term limits, the complaint alleges that the board members took several actions violating state law and the school’s charter, including holding secret meetings in violation of N.C. open meetings laws and the school’s charter, approving resolutions at illegal meetings that violated the rights of legitimate board members and could potentially cause harm to the school, and ignoring compliance directives from the N.C. Office of Charter Schools.