Beaufort County school principals resign, details remain slim

BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)- In less than one week the principal and assistant principal at a local high school have resigned and the school district isn't explaining why.  Northside High School Principal Donna Moore resigned on Oct. 6^th.  Less than one week later Asst. Principal Mary Beth Jackson stepped down.

Nine on Your Side has been working to find what you have the right to know- why administrators leave your child's school. 

We went straight to the source- North Carolina's public school laws.  As it turns out, it's up to Beaufort County Schools how transparent it wants to be.

When we asked Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Dr. Don Phipps why the top two leaders of Northside High School resigned, he responded with this statement: "In light of the recent resignations at Northside High School, I want to dispel rumors and speculation that the resignations resulted from misconduct related to NHS test scores.  The progress that Northside High has made in the areas of student achievement, graduation rate, and dropout rate is the result of the hard work of the staff and students at Northside High School.  Any rumor or speculation otherwise unfairly diminishes the hard work of all involved."

But speculation is hard to avoid when Principal Donna Moore and Asst. Principal Mary Beth Jackson stepped down within a week of each other.

Noel Respess told us on Facebook, "We need to know what is going on that would make both of them resign!!!"  And Angela Faughnan said- "School officials should be held in the same regard as any public official. If there was wrongdoing on their part that involved the school or the children who attend, then I feel that parents and the public have a right to know."

A spokesperson with the state Dept. of Public Instruction tells us the state only handles professional licensing for educators.

"Employment information would be released by your local school board under the laws that govern what is public and what is confidential,” said Vanessa Jeter, Dept. of Public Instruction Communications Dir.

So we checked.  State General Statute 115C-320 says the school board must publicly report when employees are dismissed, suspended or demoted for disciplinary reasons, but the law doesn't mention resignations.

We asked Dr. Phipps for an on-camera interview.  He declined so we sent some of our questions to him in an e-mail.  He has not yet responded.

Records show Moore and Jackson were each employed with Beaufort County Schools for 17 years.