Updated: A statement from the governing board of Children鈥檚 Village Academy was added on the evening of Dec. 15. Additional details on the school鈥檚 financial history and clarification on the nature of auditors鈥� expectations for the school were added on the evening of Dec. 17.
The head of the federal agency that runs nationwide academic assessments is facing scrutiny from state education officials in North Carolina over allegations of improper spending related to her role as vice chair of the board for a charter school launched by her late mother.
Peggy Carr was by President Joe Biden in 2021 to serve as commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the assessment and data collection arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
She鈥檚 also served for more than two decades on the board for Children鈥檚 Village Academy, a K-8 charter school that enrolls 155 students in rural Kinston, N.C. Peggy Carr鈥檚 mother, Anna Bell Carr, founded the school in 1997. Peggy Carr鈥檚 sister Gloria currently serves as an administrator there.
Two reports published Dec. 11 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction requested that the for .
Another report published earlier this month by the state education department鈥檚 about $287,000 spent from a federal grant that supports afterschool programs.
The expenses in question include:
- furniture totaling $5,000 outside the scope of approved educational expenses;
- eight months of utility bills of $3,200 for a property the school didn鈥檛 always have a contract to occupy and was also used by other tenants; and
- costs for school supplies and technology tools totaling $5,018 incurred by a contractor who wasn鈥檛 hired to make those purchases and didn鈥檛 produce receipts showing they actually bought those items.
Auditors flagged the last item on that list as 鈥渃onsistent with indicators of fraud, waste, or abuse.鈥�
The Department of Public Instruction also questioned an arrangement through which Carr loaned the school $188,000 in 2008 and is on track to be owed $155,000 in interest.
The education department鈥檚 monitoring and compliance division said Carr allowed the school to delay its repayment, but that it never updated the loan documentation or fully recorded the loan in its financial statements.
At its current repayment pace, the department calculated that the school would eventually owe $155,000 in interest to Peggy Carr, its board鈥檚 vice chair, who took out personal loans to make the initial loan 15 years ago.
U.S. Education Department is 鈥榣ooking into this matter鈥�
Carr wasn鈥檛 available for an interview in time for publication, according to her spokesperson, Erick Mullen. Mullen, however, shared a statement from Carr in which she says the state audit is 鈥渘ot accurate.鈥�
Carr said she and her husband have made significant monetary contributions to the school, incurred losses after the school struggled to pay back loans, and even tapped into her retirement account and took out a loan on her home to keep the school financially afloat.
鈥淓verything I have done for and with the school has been in the best interest of the school and its students,鈥� Carr wrote. 鈥淩ather than seek personal gain, in fact, I did this at a personal financial loss. My reward was seeing the academic improvement of the students.鈥�
Carr said she plans to forgive any remaining debts the school owes her, and to work with state agencies to resolve and clarify discrepancies.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education said the federal agency 鈥渋s looking into this matter and does not comment on personnel matters.鈥�
In a statement Friday evening, Dec. 15, the school鈥檚 governing board vowed to improve its internal accounting processes but denied that the Carr family had engaged in 鈥渇raud, self-dealing, or other malicious or self-interested motive.鈥�
鈥淚t is believed that the complaints were filed by a disgruntled ex-employee of the school who is known to have boasted that he would get the school closed down,鈥� the statement says. The probe began after the state education department and state auditor鈥檚 office received allegations of financial impropriety at the school.
The board also took issue with the state report, arguing that it went beyond the scope of the allegations that prompted the review.
鈥淣one of the allegations were substantively upheld by DPI, officials; yet their report is silent in that regard,鈥� the board wrote.
The school also . In some cases, the school agreed to develop more rigorous processes for documenting expenses.
But the school鈥檚 response also says the report is 鈥渆xcessively detrimental, one-sided, and fails to adequately exonerate the school and its individuals where that is due.鈥� School officials also said the state鈥檚 request for a detailed inventory of the school鈥檚 furniture was extreme and unreasonable.
Jessica Jones, the school鈥檚 K-8 executive director and principal, declined to comment Friday when a reporter for 澳门跑狗论坛 contacted her. Wilma Troublefield, chair of the CVA board, didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Technology center鈥檚 utility and furniture costs questioned
The reports detail a series of instances when the school apparently failed to adequately ensure that expenses were in line with spending guidelines, or that the exact circumstances of spending were clearly documented.
Carr, her mother, and one of Carr鈥檚 sisters bought the school鈥檚 main campus from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh in 1991, Lenoir County property records show, six years before the school began.
Right across the street lies the technology center building, which Peggy Carr and three of her sisters purchased in 2006, according to public records.
Carr family members purchased buildings for the school because charter schools in North Carolina weren鈥檛 permitted to use government funds to buy property, Peggy Carr wrote in her statement.
Several findings center on the technology center.
According to the audit, the school paid utility bills for the property between June 2022 and February 2023. The school, however, only had a contract to use one floor of the technology center building for two months of that time. The building was partially occupied by other tenants, including a U-Haul truck rental business.
Auditors said the school should return more than $3,000 in state education funds spent on utilities. They also recommended the school request reimbursement from Peggy Carr, as a building owner, to cover that amount. And they expect the school to look back at utility bills before and after the scrutinized period to identify any other improper spending.
Also at issue in the technology center is a set of furniture items paid for with $5,000 in funds from the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program. The audit says the items鈥攊ncluding a dining room table, chairs, pillows, lamps, wall art, and 鈥渄ecorative accessories, including colorful cows, book boxes, and flowers"鈥攁ren鈥檛 allowable expenses for the grant because they don鈥檛 sufficiently contribute to learning and were used primarily during periods when the school didn鈥檛 have a contract to occupy the building.
The audit notes that the school鈥檚 response mentions that students sat and worked on their laptops at the dining room table in question.
The report also points to numerous expenses that appear questionable due to a lack of documentation. For instance, in December 2022 the school purchased four $500 Visa gift cards and described the expense as 鈥渕aintenance鈥� with no further details.
In responding to the audit, the school said it purchased the gift cards for the school鈥檚 maintenance staff and finance officer.
The school has long had financial troubles
Children鈥檚 Village Academy was founded in 1997 by Anna Bell Carr, who died in 2022 at the age of 92, according to a .
The says the school offers 鈥減rivate school education for a public school price鈥攆ree.鈥� It has dealt with financial woes throughout its existence, with showing the school ran deficits in six different years between 2011 and 2022. North Carolina鈥檚 education department in 2013.
The school鈥檚 future continues to be on shaky ground. The latest audit findings are 鈥渁 huge part of the decision鈥� over whether to renew the school鈥檚 charter next year, John Eldridge, vice chair of the North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board, .
Representatives for the charter board didn鈥檛 answer 澳门跑狗论坛鈥檚 requests for comment in time for publication.
Carr has had a long career in education
Peggy Carr鈥檚 mother pushed for her and her siblings to be among the first to integrate schools in her eastern North Carolina community, according to online biographies.
Peggy Carr went on to become the first in her family to obtain a Ph.D., and the first Black woman to serve in an appointed leadership role at the National Center for Education Statistics, where she鈥檚 .
Carr鈥檚 current duties include overseeing the rollout of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the annual math and reading assessment also known as the Nation鈥檚 Report Card. She鈥檚 also in charge of the department鈥檚 data monitoring, which includes a suite of surveys of K-12 schools that provide data that inform policy decisions, including funding.
In a 2021 announcing her appointment to the top role at NCES, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called her a 鈥渄edicated public servant.鈥�
As of Dec. 15, Carr was still listed on the charter school鈥檚 website as vice chair of the board.
