Changing the future of employee bonuses
The bonus committee would deliberate on how to award “substantial” bonuses based on factors such as student growth and innovation. If a bonus structure were approved, it would likely need financial support from the county. Republican member Josie Barnhart referenced the estimated $20 million in additional supplement funding that the county already provides to NHCS educators.
Republican members Pat Bradford and Barnhart shared concerns about the timing of the committee, as county commissioners just joined the school board in moving forward on a $320.5 million school, slated for the ballot in November 2026.
Transparency concerns continue
A consistent feature of New Hanover County school board agenda meetings has been the discussion of documents not shared with the public, leaving constituents and the press with no frame of reference for the conversation.
For example, on Monday, board members discussed Memorandums of Understanding with several agencies, a capital-savings document, and a proposed board resolution requesting that the legislature increase funding for exceptional children.
In the past, board members have argued that agenda documents are drafts and releasing unfinalized information could cause confusion for the public. They also say the public will eventually see the records after the fact, but that doesn’t help those following the public business conducted during agenda review meetings. WHQR has repeatedly asked NHCS to post documents ahead of their agenda review meeting – which is the general practice of nearly all local governments – but NHCS has not changed its policy.
Merrick told WHQR that he has asked “again and again, and I get blank looks. It looks like they don’t understand what the public can’t see; I don’t know how else to explain it to them.”
Another transparency measure was up for debate and was pushed to the board’s regular meeting on December 2. Merrick proposed that all members receive an email when a member submits an agenda item for meetings. He said this would help the board work more efficiently.
Barnhart said she didn’t see any problems with the current model, but Mason said this could eliminate longer phone conversations with members about which agenda items had been submitted. She also added that members needed to be careful with their language when adding items to the agenda, suggesting they should be less emotional and more objective.
Bradford said she wanted to review the unintended consequences of sending these item request emails to all board members, as she had concerns they would “go to the media.” Notably, these agenda items would be public record and unlikely to be protected by any statutes.
In North Carolina public records law, there is no deliberative clause either – meaning that public officials can withhold records because the timing isn’t right or those files are deemed “drafts” or “unofficial.” As an example, UNCW’s legal counsel recently tried to withhold meeting minutes because they were “unofficial” and not “board-approved.” When Duke Law’s First Amendment Clinic got involved and sent a demand letter, the minutes were released.
However, the district did address its conspicuously long backlog of outstanding public records requests. While state law does not set a specific requirement for how quickly the government must turn over documents, in some cases the delays appear to violate the spirit of the law’s directive to provide requested materials “as promptly as possible,” especially for less complex requests that don’t require redactions. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes said he and his staff aim to fill or respond to all remaining requests over the winter break; on a rolling basis, moving forward, Barnes said he and staff hope to clear the queue during each subsequent break (i.e., winter, spring, and summer)
“How you say it”
Barnes said “someone” had asked him to review the employee social media policy with the public.
He said while employees have First Amendment rights, they have to remember how they are “saying it,” and that staff are not “disassociated from being a role model” online.
Bradford said she wanted to review the policy for board members as they are approaching an election cycle next year. She said that some members, although she didn’t name who, were engaging in “inflammatory” posts and being hypocritical in what they say and then doing the opposite.
NHCS Audit
Anderson Smith & Wike performed a financial audit for NHCS. Adam Scepurek stated that the district had no “findings,” but that his company's role is to ensure its financial statements are accurate.
Scepurek said that, technically, this year’s audit is considered a draft because some financial information from the federal government was delayed by the shutdown, but affirmed that, for the most part, what’s in the report would likely remain the same.
Earlier in the meeting, the board talked about having a certain percentage of district funds move into fund balance, as it has long since been characterized as “low,” – currently, in unassigned fund balance, the district has around $1.3 million – but Scepuerk cautioned against that because if they created a policy surrounding the movement of those funds, that could be a “finding” if they broke it.
One fund that was discussed at length was child nutrition, which raises funds independently of the district. According to Scepuerk, it has $9 million in the bank.
The board began discussing the possibility of charging indirect rates to child nutrition for utilities, but some members argued that they shouldn’t, since those funds are used to pay higher salaries. It’s an open question what the district will pursue in the future; however, Chief Financial Officer Ashley Sutton said she’s filling out paperwork to potentially charge those indirect costs.
Child nutrition programs rely mainly on federal reimbursement rates, and higher participation in free and reduced lunch programs means more money for the district.
It’s about the number of children the district can “get through the line,” Scepuerk said.
In March, WHQR tried to explain how child nutrition has had significant cash reserves for several years, but was denied an interview.
Prior reporting on NHCS’s lack of public document transparency
- NHHS overhaul: Decades of deferred maintenance, private planning meetings, and big price tags
- Does FERPA protect parents’ identities when they challenge books? NC school districts offer mixed interpretations
- District won’t release draft NHHS plans, despite sharing them with elected officials
- NC Open Government Guide – explains rules around public records law and open meetings law
