Sanctions removed against Charter Day School, Inc., after salary info submitted to state

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Leland-based charter school company is again in compliance with state regulators after its management company turned over salary information about its employees who work in the school.

Charter Day School, Inc., received a letter today from the Department of Public Instruction saying the company, which runs four charter schools in the area, is no longer on financial probationary status. State regulators put CDS on that status after it failed to report information about employees of Roger Bacon Academy who work in the schools. CDS argued that because the information belongs to RBA, it never had access to it to submit.

CDS Board of Trustees Chair John Ferrante says RBS submitted the salary information to the Department of Public Information Monday as a protected trade secret, which keeps it from being accessed via the state’s public records laws. DPI had earlier accepted information from another management company under a similar agreement. WWAY was first to report that DPI then released the information for Rocky Mount Prep as part of a public records request by a media outlet. The incident is under investigation.

Multiple media outlets, including WWAY, have also requested the salary information arguing the public’s right to know how public money is spent.

CDS holds the charters for Charter Day School in Leland, Columbus Charter School in Whiteville, Douglass Academy in Wilmington and South Brunswick Charter School in Southport.