The State Board of Education is threatening sanctions against Charter Day School, Inc., of Wilmington, in an ongoing dispute over disclosure of salaries of employees contracted through a for-profit company. Charter Day School has refused to disclose them to the state unless a promise of confidentiality is made and it has not provided the information when requested under the N.C. Public Records Law.
WUNC reports that on Thursday the State Board of Education placed Charter Day School, Inc. on “financial probationationary status” and given it 10 days to provide the salary information or face sanctions.
All charter schools in the state were required to submit detailed financial information to the Department of Public Instruction at the end of September. Charter Day School, Inc. refused to provide certain information related to the salaries of employees of Roger Bacon Academy, a separate for-profit company that provides staffing in the four southeastern North Carolina schools run by Charter Day. Both Charter Day and Roger Bacon Academy were founded by the same businessman, Baker Mitchell. ProPublica reported last month that Mitchell’s for-profit companies that contract with Charter Day have taken in close to $20 million in revenue.
Roger Bacon Academy offered to provide the information to the state only if it would remain confidential. Several news outlets have made multiple requests for the same information under the N.C. Public Records Law. As a condition of their agreements with the state, charter schools must comply with the records law, and during the short session this year the General Assembly required charter schools to follow the public records law. The Star-News of Wilmington filed a public records lawsuit against the school in September.
Read WUNC’s coverage here.