Click Here for an update to this story: School Officials Criticize Audio Tape Article
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“Hide the money”
SMITHFIELD – A troubling audio tape allegedly implicating Johnston County Board of Education members Kay Carroll and Lyn Andrews, and School Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt discussing how to hide $8 million from the Johnston County Board of Commissioners has surfaced. Superintendent Dr. Eric Bracy also attended the meeting, but according to the recording was not involved.
The budget workshop meeting took place March 2022 in Smithfield and was not a public meeting or a quorum of the school board. According to the audio, the group appears to allegedly plot to use Federal Covid-19 ESSER fund line items as a cover for placing millions of local taxpayer dollars.
The secret holding spot for local tax dollars would allow the school board to exceed a reasonable fund balance of $20 million dollars agreed upon by the Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners and keep local taxpayer funds flowing in the upcoming 2022-2023 budget request.
School board Kay Carroll reportedly states in the tape, “If you don’t do that with these county commissioners they are going to continue to say we want that money back. If you are not spending it then you don’t need it and we want it in our account.”
Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt replied, “So what we could do and how we were working to get you as close to that $35 million was to take $8 million dollars out of ESSER and put it back in local and that will keep fund balance floating about $23 million and then that would give you another $8 million.”
School board member Lyn Andrews said, “So you still got it you just put it in a different place.”
Carroll replied, “I don’t care how you word it let’s get it to that… But hide your money.”
A video (below) explaining and playing the audio clip was released Monday by school board candidates Kevin Donovan and Michelle Antoine. They state they were the “trusted individuals” board member Ronald Johnson spoke of in his rescinded resignation announcement made in July. Johnson was at the March 2022 meeting and captured and gave the audio tape to the pair. Mr. Johnson was placed on unpaid leave from his job and his professional law enforcement career threatened, over what Donovan and Antoine believe is political retribution for his continued whistleblowing.
Mr. Donovan told the Johnston County Report last week, “In May, I received a phone call from Ronald Johnson asking if I could meet with him immediately. I said sure and left my house not knowing why but met with him anyway. When I met with him, he played several recordings and said I am going to give these to you. If something happens and I can’t release them, I need you to do it. I asked him why don’t you release the recordings? He replied, I can’t. The people I thought I can trust, I can’t trust them anymore. He went on to say “my hands are tied and it is about to get worse”. Ronald told me, “this could be dangerous for you, they want to cover this up.” He would never say who they “were” but I could tell he was legitimately concerned. A short time later, I am being called in, interrogated, and intimidated over recordings to be handed over.”
Interviewed by police
In the audio recording above, both Donovan and Antoine said they were questioned by Smithfield Police about any audio recordings they may have.
Mr. Donovan alleges someone tried to bribe him to turn against Ronald Johnson. He also said someone emailed his church and ask that he be removed from his volunteer position, a church he attends with his wife and children.
“I knew that if someone is willing to come after a non-official and his family in this county, no one would be safe from officials trying to bury the truth,” Donovan said, adding he wanted to expose the audio tape and what happened to him for “truth and transparency.”
“I believe it is the right thing to do,” he said.
I don’t understand why we would hide money…
“In this recording, Lyn Andrews, Kay Carroll, and CFO Steven Britt are planning to hide $8 million dollars from the commissioners in order to gain more money. Money has been missing in the past and it appears history is trying to repeat itself if someone doesn’t bring light to the subject. When I met with Ronald (in May), he said board members were meeting behind Dr. Bracy’s back, trying to find ways to move money. He also mentioned that this started in December. The other people and I were hoping Ronald would pull through and be able to release these recordings, but it does not appear that will happen. We have so many needs in the school system. I don’t understand why we would hide money, it just does not make sense,” Mr. Donovan said last week.
According to Donovan and Antoine, an attempt to keep secret extra millions in the fund balance was allegedly first discussed by Kay Carroll in a December 2021 informal budget meeting. At that meeting Board member Johnson was in opposition to any plan or discussion to hide money. When Mr. Johnson heard the plan revived in an informal March 2022 budget meeting, he was able to capture the statements of the meeting participants on an audio file.
The March 2022 audio of the alleged scheme to hide $8 million dollars with full participation by school board members and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt not only violates the public trust, but it may have legal implications.
Not the first time?
This is not the first time Mr. Carroll has been accused of hidden funds while on the school board. It appears to be a repeat of 2007-2008, when a secret account with local tax dollars was hidden from commissioners and the public.
Former Johnston County Commissioner Devan Barbour III in a 2016 article revealed the school board had $40 million in the bank when they asked Commissioners in 2007-2008 to borrow $30 million to cover construction cost overruns at the Corinth Holders and Cleveland High School campuses.
Barbour stated in 2016, “In 2009…the county finance department began requesting financial information and bank statements from the Board of Education. It became apparent that they had approximately $40 million dollars in reserves. This was alarming because it came on the heels of our having to borrow an additional $30 million to cover the construction of Corinth- Holders and Cleveland High Schools. The Board of Education had estimated the cost to be $30 million each in the Bond Referendum but they actually ended up costing $45 million apiece. First and foremost, this huge amount of money did not belong to the Board of Education or the Board of Commissioners, it belongs to the taxpayers of Johnston County. It was serving no purpose sitting idly in a Johnston County Schools account while the taxpayers were paying approximately $33 million dollars a year in debt service for schools.”
Kay Carroll was the Board of Education Chairman during 2007-08 school year when a First Citizens Bank loan was taken out on behalf of the schools. Dr. Anthony Parker was the Superintendent of Johnston County Public Schools from 2003 to 2009, working with Carroll during this critical 2007-2008 school year.
Dr. Parker was the individual Kay Carroll attempted to bring back to Johnston County as a consultant to help build new schools in 2021. Carroll used a 2021 closed session meeting to influence the signing of a contract for Parker’s consulting company. The contract was drawn for one-year totaling $180,000 plus expenses. The contract issue was brought to light by board member Ronald Johnson. The contract was never awarded.
$30 million loan for “very apparent mismanagement of bond money”
Johnston County Board of Education Chairman Todd Sutton in January of 2020 accused Kay Carroll, a then School Board candidate and former Board of Education Chairman, of taking out a $30 million loan from First Citizens Bank in 2007-2008. The loan, according to Sutton, was due to Carroll’s mismanagement of bond money while building Corinth Holders and Cleveland High Schools. The loan was to be paid back over 20 years using the county schools North Carolina Education Lottery money.
According to Chairman Sutton, “$30 million of bond money that was overspent on the construction of Corinth Holders and Cleveland High Schools. Then Chairman Carroll and the Board of Education secured a loan from First Citizens Bank and Trust for $30 million dollars amortized over the next 20 years.…this loan is being paid back using incoming NC Educational Lottery money”
A response was issued by Kay Carroll to the 2020 accusation by Chairman Sutton. Kay Carroll, who served on the Board of Education from 1992-2008, stated the Johnston County Commissioners took out the First Citizens Bank loan. He additionally claimed the North Carolina Education Lottery money can only be used for construction and debt service.
Mr. Carroll wrote, “April of 2007, ahead of the bond vote, the list of upcoming bond projects was released to the public which included both Corinth Holders High School and Cleveland High School…professional construction experts estimated the cost at $30 million each. The bids for each school came in at approximately $15M more than our original estimate. We stopped everything until a decision could be made as how to proceed.” “At the point that the Commissioners took out the loan for the additional funds, the school board agreed that all lottery funds, from that time on, could be drawn down by the commissioners to help pay off debt service, especially the recent loan. Lottery funds still come to the county for debt service. Lottery funds have never been allowed for classroom expenses – only construction or debt service.”
According to the North Carolina Education Lottery website, Education Lottery money is mostly used for non-instructional support personnel and transportation, as described in this Ed NC article. “In FY 2018, the majority of NC Education Lottery funding (57%) went to non-instructional support personnel, with 19% going to school construction, 12% to pre-kindergarten, 6% LEA transportation, 4% to need-based college scholarships, and 2% to UNC need-based aid.”
The Johnston County Board of Education held a retreat March 7, 2009, which discussed opening timeline for the two new high schools. The Board considered a delayed opening of Corinth and Cleveland High campuses to save $2.6 million in operating costs, all while they sat on $40 million in funds. The schools opened without delay in Fall of 2010, after the discovery of hidden funds by the Board of Commissioners.
2019 financial trouble
A decade after the 2009 mismanagement of funds, the Johnston County School Board was once again in financial trouble. In the fall of 2019 interim Johnston County Schools Superintendent Dr. James Causby had a Fund balance of $880,000 with only $300,000 usable dollars. Just two years prior the fund balance sat at over $10 million.
Dr. Causby cut $7 million from the budget, but still the Johnston County Schools would have been out of money by spring 2020. County Commissioners were requested by the School Board to fund an additional $8.8 million to the school system to finish out the fiscal year. Board members Teresa Grant and Ronald Johnson called for a forensic audit to find any missing funds or wrongdoing with money, versus a wellness audit which would simply find any deficits in funding. A wellness audit is all that resulted. No transparency for this enormous shortfall was provided to the county taxpayers.
No comment
Johnston County Report reached out Friday, Aug. 5 for a comment from Board member Kay Carroll and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Britt. As of the publication of this story on Monday, Aug. 8 we had not received a reply requesting an explanation and comment on the audio recording.
In their video statement today, Michelle Antoine and Kevin Donovan call upon NC Auditor Beth Wood to conduct a complete forensic audit of Johnston County Public Schools financial records.
Editor’s Note: The March 2022 audio recording was given in May 2022 to Kevin Donovan by Ronald Johnson. We confirmed with Mr. Johnson he made the recording.
So glad I have no children in the JoCo school system.
So what. Their trying to get money for our schools . Atleast their not talking about keeping for theirselves . These 2 right here smh. I bet if they where wanting to push that money into Princeton or Corinth they wouldn’t say nothing. Michelle does not deserve to be on that board They jumped on the Terry wagon and got his votes lol
Are you and your writing skills a product of the Johnston County school system?
Time for them to resign. Then an audit then charges if warrented.
So you don’t care that they are trying to hide money from the taxpayers? That is troubling. Glad you are made of money and don’t mind paying more in taxes during this insane inflationary period.
I would rather it go to our schools than to other stupid mess Most of the money the county got from Covid belongs to our schools
Don’t worry…I’m sure some WANT to pay more taxes and cheer Mr. “Hear me say, no new taxes on those making less than $400k” Biden sign the Increasing Inflation Act into law.
Spare everybody the exaggeration. They’re not “hiding money from taxpayers”. This money was allocated to the school system already and will be spent to benefit the taxpayers. They’re hiding this balance from stingy county commissioners who consistently refuse new spending if they see any type of balance. One wonders if there really was corruption, why this wasn’t referred to the authorities. Instead, we get these people with obvious political agendas trying to make an issue out of it.
You say there is no evidence they were trying to keep the money for themselves, it didn’t really say either way, but you have to wonder with all the excessive wasteful spending by the school board the last few years. I mean look at all the money they paid that sham of an educator in Renfrow. He should have never been superintendent of anything. I’m tired of my tax money being messed with by corrupt jackasses in the county board and school board. I’m sure a lot of people are.
Doesn’t surprise me. All the politicians, including Ronald Johnson, are corrupt and don’t give a sh*t about kids or education. All they care about is money and power.
But keep thinking that private schools and dismantling the current public education system is a bad thing sheep.
As a former school systems employee, I can tell you that NONE of these board members care about you. They might seem like they listen to you in the meetings, but in private, they make fun of the public at large. When the big demonstration happened last year at the school board meeting, the board members and their cabinet members just ridiculed everyone there. They even have made attempts to make sure the public comment section of the board meetings doesn’t get aired online. All of them need to be gone.
So you heard them say these things?
“JCS Former Employee” strikes me as the most honest participant in the comments or in the article itself.
And as Paul Harvey would say: Now you know the rest of the story……Good day. Thank you, Ronald Johnson, Michelle Antoine, and Kevin Donovan!
For hiding this supposed tape that proves nothing. 43 seconds of an entire meeting. Who knows how much was spliced and diced to make it seem like something bad was going on. Ronald Johnson is the problem here.
You think when I posted that Ron-Jon knew where all the bodies are buried was being a smart as$ cliché, think again?
So you trust a corrupt cop on admin leave and now someone who secretly records colleagues and doctors or leaves out key pieces. of information. Seems like you belong with this dishonest group.
And here we go again with joco schools money and personnel issues! Can we please just start educating the kids and focusing on that? Sounds like Carroll likes money and power more than anything and needs to be investigated for his role in all the missing money in the past. Andrews was a wolf in sheeps clothing and I’m very disappointed in her actions throughout her term. They both need to be removed from office if this recording holds true. We the people need to vote in new members and not have them appointed. The state auditor absolutely needs to see where all the tax payer money has been going.
As taxpayers, you would be shocked on how much waste, (money) there is.
Working in one Johnston Co school. I was shocked on the waste…..
Lot of our money could be going to a better use !
This is why taxpayers fit the bill on $9600 per student in public school, but private schools in the area charge half that and the kids get a better education.
Nothing shocking about this really it’s politics as usual.Only difference is one hypocrite with a Columbo Complex sold out the others and has two goons do his dirty work it’s hilarious really.
Kay Carrol failed at winning any office he’s ever ran for except the school board. The only reason he can win there is because all the Democrats in Smithfied and Clayton and the Rino class vote for him. He and several of his associates on the school board made our kids wear face diapers for two years knowing dang well masks provide almost no measurable protection from Covid. And he knows that children aren’t at risk from it. I hope he’s forced to resign in disgrace but knowing the good ole boy network in Smithfield I highly doubt it. Half the so called “conservatives” in our judicial system and commissioners are in the scam on the tax payers with him.
Joco school system is so screwed up I never would have imagined it would get this bad. Teachers sleeping with kids. Children are being bullied every day principles and assistant principals do nothing about it or let me rephrase that they pick and choose who they stand up for. Last year the kids were served old milk old food no utensils to eat some days. Let’s not forget there’s a dress code they pick and choose what students to enforce the code on but the teachers are allowed to wear skimpier clothes than the students. At this point I’m just ready to homeschool all of my kids and get them out of Johnston county School system.
Do it! Homeschooling was the best decision we have made. Our kids have learned more in 2 years homeschooling than all their years of public schools combined.
Nothing shocking here it’s politics. Only difference is this time one hypocrite with an “Columbo Complex” sold out the others to save face.
I am so glad my child is out of the JoCo school system. They all seem to be a bunch of crooks in there. What happened to the values in our county?
Love of money is the root of all evil. Dems and RINOs simply love other people’s money as much as they love their own.
We should have called for a state audit when money was missing the first time. It must be great to have such a large slush fund.
Ron Jon trying to take the school system down with him…this guy will not quit. His life is sinking faster than the Titanic and he is throwing anything and everything to sink everything else with him. Voters, I hope you are happy. Y’all drank the kool-aid and the kids will pay the price. Looks like the disciples of Ron Jon are following his footsteps. Like leading sheep to the slaughter…power is an evil thing. That’s what they care about, POWER…not the kids!
Ah yes, blame the whistleblower and ignore the $8M that Carroll and Andrews tried to hide. Tell me you support corruption without saying so…..
Corruption…really? You wait until the real story comes out about Ronald Johnson. Police officers don’t get admin leave w/o pay if they haven’t done something pretty serious. Face it, the chickens have come home to roost!
…Brett if I had a “LIKE” button I would press it !!!
Lol sounds like John doe is a perp busted by Ron and is trying to get even lol.. you going against the one guy who just proved all of them need to be fired and charged… Wonder if you had green pants or brown pants on back in the day …
Did you watch WRAL tonight. First of all if he knew in May, why did we all just find out about it. Seems like Johnson was holding the information until the right time to help himself the most. Also, seems to me they were trying to save the money so it could be used for the schools. Anyway, Johnson is a pariah on our schools, county and community. He needs to be gone or disciplined further.
Parents and Taxpayers don’t forget how $180-K-Carroll got that nickname?
https://jocoreport.com/180000-consulting-contract-with-former-school-superintendent-considered/
My only question now is whether there will be accountability or not, and I’m rather convinced there won’t unless we get on the horn to our elected commissioner and demand that Carroll, Andrews, and Britt are held accountable, and if Bracy knew about this and did and said nothing then his tail needs to be fired too. Drain this joco swamp!
Yes!! Along with anyone else who may have been at the meeting and didn’t speak up! We can not allow this corruption to continue in JOCO!
Bracy was there. He was in the room. His voice was heard on the tape. Why should anyone assume he is not a part of this scheme?
I just had posted in F/B “Eyes on JoCo,” about the lack of freedom of speech here in Johnston County and how sites and media keep you from hearing or writing about certain things. I don’t even know if this will be printed on here. An hour later, this article was put out on Eyes on JoCo and a great example. See, the Republican Party is split here: The GOP (leaders) secretly supported the group CAAG and its corrupted “Golden Ticket” that ONLY reflected candidates they wanted in. Ronald Johnson is a CAAG member and complicit in the plan to separate us. Ronald Johnson aspired to be the head of the school board and wanted Michele Antoine and Kevin Donovan in there to support him towards that goal. So, believing that CAAG had the Primary election sewn up with their candidates (their only failure was that Bo Hines won the Congressional Primary), they believe that they could hold the recording that was given to the JoCo Report until such time until it was needed towards the General election. I believe Johnson gave this to GOP and the CAAG leadership back in March and it has been withheld from the public. It surfaces now as they need to make Johnson still credible and need publicity for Donovan and Antoine ahead of the election. Certainly this NEEDS to be investigated as did the corruption that exposed the Sheriff! I count 6 major issues that affect the public in Johnston County, other than the issues we have to deal with daily out of Washington, DC. They have ALL been against the good order of advancing the students and citizens in Johnston County. This has been known and hidden since March and I believe ALL who knew it and withheld it from the public all these months should lose their positions or candidacy. There has been enough criticism of the school board and this was recorded by Johnson before his bad issues were exposed so, it would’ve reflected on him at the time as a board member. Clearly, it was held back by the party for use towards the general election. What else is being hidden from us that we’ll learn ahead of the General Election?! I was a candidate in the Primary and this was never told to us regular candidates ahead of the Primary. It is my belief it was held by CAAG, Ronald Johnson and Republican leadership here in JoCo.
I am in agreement with you! It’s just more of the selection of our elections vs election of representatives! This entire board has been nothing but trouble for the county and needs to be fired and replaced with people who actually care about the schools, teachers, students, employees and county. Thank you for running and pushing for change. Do they allow write in candidates for school board?
This is the best summary of the facts/events stated in this story. I am happy someone can see beyond the headline grab and relay the underlying motives.
Wait, didn’t you get arrested for selling steroids? Or is that someone else
You mean the same sheriff that beat you by like 40,000 votes? Or how about the time you applied at kenly pd and got turned down for lies on your application. Yeah there’s a reason you’re not in law enforcement anymore and it has nothing to do with retirement.🤡
So basically you’re saying the Republican party in Johnston County is a bunch of scumbags choosing who gets elected, trying to manufacture controversy to get their people elected, and that they don’t have any desire for the CITIZENS of this county to FAIRLY elect their choice?
And this surprises you WHY???
Workshop folks, workshop. That’s where ideas are thrown around. And with this group of county commissioners led by Fred Smith that are against public education, I’m not surprised they were trying to think of ways to keep the money for the schools.
Michelle Antoine would not have a problem with this if it was being allocated for a Junior White Nationalists program.
So basically RJ is covering up the fact that he was forced by certain county commissioners to pass racially motivated policy, while participating in extorting the children’s parents (tax payers) via holding their children ransom. These people Michelle whatever her name is and the other person in the video are taking the fall. Making sure the school board is not a party RJs and his other brown shirts fascist ideology is why RJ and Michelle and the rest of the extremists have no place in being involved in positions of power; especially around children
It is RJ, Michelle and Mr. Donovan who are exposing the fascists on the school board.
The fascists are those that support trump and his policies….the nazies…the fascists were extreme far right, like the evangelicals of today that want to force their ideology on everyone. There is no national religion for a reason and the founding fathers made sure of this. Although Trump only holds a Bible when he needs to make an appearance for his cult…
Leighlah the nazis were the national Socialist party…..socialist….and they purged their political enemies kinda like the Biden DOJ is trying to do now by raiding Trump’s house. He’s out of office and they’re still scared to death if him. Only life losers and morons could think Democrats are the answer to anything.
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology, philosophy and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy[2][3] that rose to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.[
U might wanna go back to school Leigh. Everything you just accused Trump of doing and being is exactly what you Democrats, pretty certain that’s your party affiliation are. But really your just a bunch of socialist traitors. That trump derangement syndrome is strong with you. The truth is coming out in joco and DC and it’s not looking to good for the soyboy and girl traitors
See above. Also, I AM a history major so I don’t need to go back to school. Also, am not registered as either a Democrat or Republican thank you. Any more wrong assumptions you would like to make about me? So far you’ve struck out twice – three and well you go back under your rock I suppose. Hopefully the moderators print what I posted, if not, sadly I used Wikipedia, which we can’t use at university, but I didn’t want to post anything too complicated. Fascism is indeed a complicated belief, but it is definitely not a liberal one. Hitler was far from being that, nor was Mussolini. My father fought bravely to defend this country from Hitler – Trump is a Hitler wannabe. Biden doesn’t even come close. However, this is about what is going on in JoCo, which is mainly run and ruined by republicans for as long as I have lived here. I don’t believe they put the school board members political affiliations up when they are running for election or not. I know use to not with judges because they are supposed to be non political as should a school board. So, I don’t even know what party members any of our school board members are even though I could probably take a guess if I knew where they lived and who they hung around with. That is ALWAYS telling…. good or bad. I don’t know any of them personally and my children are long out of school but my grandchildren are mostly in Johnston County schools and thankfully all doing extremely well so far. I personally miss Butler Hall – I knew him when he was the principal at North Johnston and always liked him but I am sure he is up in age now… and I think all political offices need an age limit- from the lowest office to the highest. 35-70…. then mandatory retirement and no life long pay. And no life term for judges either… Supreme Court I am looking at you…
TIL: Fascism is when you have low taxes and less government intervention. FBI under Biden needs to change their uniform color to brown.
Leighlah you are 100% correct. The SYSTEMIC part is that folks like RJ, FS, Michelle whatever, and they other dolt, do the disgusting job of covering up their extreme ideology (fascism) by deflecting. They do this by masquerading as the savior because they focus on particular parts of the human condition that can not be changed about a single group of individuals. Why? That’s what pleases their leader and they chain of command. I’ll will share this with you all. You messed with the wrong man’s children. Those that carry and spew this ideology to children will be dealt with.
Mask off.
Incorrect. Why? Because Captain Obvious obviously doesn’t understand the definition of words.
Captain. Seems like you have some first hand knowledge of these individuals. Can you enlighten us as to why RJ is on admin leave from the Smithfield police dept. If he is such an upstanding citizen why is he on leave. Why did he hold this recording for months?
WOW!! The ongoing corruption at the JoCo BoE is MINDBOGGLING!!
Beth Woods, where are you?!!!
The fact that some people on this site are blaming those who are exposing the corruption, to the tune of 8 million , are somehow the ones that are corrupt is says a lot. What a sad world where anyone running for public office is seen as a power hungry and corrupt. Kind of limits are options as to who represents us.
Ron Johnson is also the one who blew the whistle on the former **** ****** sexually harassing employees. He was also the one who questioned then super RossRenfrows removal of the Clayton principal. He also brought to light the meeting Carroll had to give former super Anthony Parker a 180 k a year job to tell us we need more schools. But then again, sometimes the one exposing others is the one criticized for doing so.
Its funny how quick people have changed their tune on ronald johnson. Many very quiet but had a lot to say a few weeks ago. iphones are such a great tool when trying to catch thieves in the act.
Typical !!!!
Typical !!!!!
There’s a lot wrong with the school board, county commissioners, & the county government. Case in point, a LEO illegally recorded a meeting. Then instead of handing over the recording to the police, he held onto it for 5 months. He then gave the months old recordings to his political ticketmates for publication because he’s suspended from his law enforcement job for breaking the law. Yeah, that corruption is tough.
Well technically it’s a one-party consent form please see (https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/north-carolina/north-carolina-recording-law#:~:text=North%20Carolina%20Wiretapping%20Law,party%20to%20the%20conversation%20consents.) and yes you did hear Ronald speak so technically no law was broken.
But he recorded without anyone else’s knowledge. How long was the actual meeting and why do we not have the entire meeting recorded. Why was he put on admin leave from his job. This guy is not good for JOCO and the entire community.
In NC only one party has to know a recording is being made for it to be legal.
This sounds like the article I was reading about kind “of”. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/2/3/22916590/schools-federal-covid-relief-stimulus-spending-tracking They need to invest those funds back into the school system for the impact of the covid lockdowns. We need to catch that generation back up on the missed out. Remember that those children are the future. Go Ron!
Sad, even here in our backyards the dishonesty and covering up! How do you “hide” taxpayer money & sleep at night? Our kids and teachers could benefit from that money. If its not needed, transfer the money to the roads so the buses will be safer on the roads and don’t ask for more tax dollars!!!!!!! Penny pinch like the citizens of JoCo have to do…….disgraceful!
The citizen’s of Smithfield should be alarmed at a town police chief potentially being used by other political leaders to intimidate a whistleblower that has seemingly uncovered in the planning stage of misusing funds into the millions of dollars? This story has only grown more legs to follow the political witch burning of our Ron-Jon all so known as a School Board Member Mr. Ronald Johnson.
Where did the spec Ed IDEA 611 1.6 million go? Federal dollars IDEA CARES Act finds go and should be a BIG concern since admin FLED. The FEDs don’t play!
JCPS spend more on “spec Ed” than what the government pays for. Unfortunately the government requires certain things for spec ed but then refuse to pay for it all. If you look at the year to year budget, you’ll see JCPS used the 1.6 million and much more to cover spec ed programs.
So Ronnie boy knowingly withheld this information for his own political gain. Wow
Sad part is when you have commissioners that’s r known builders here- you wonder why the school board was trying to “hide” the money. The commissioners have not been funding our schools at ALL!! Our schools have been overcapacity for 20 years. We are beyond maxed out no wonder they have to be shady. People like Ron johnson and Fred smith are the problem. Michelle and Kevin and caag had this info for months. Don’t fool yourself. You should be irate over that. Ron had zero loyalty to anyone but himself. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could go thrown him. Shame. I was a fan of him from the time he was a boy. But he’s sure gone to the wolves.
If you don’t spend it you lose it. I first heard of this from a friend who works for Wake County Public Schools. If the money budgeted is not spent then the commissioners give them less the next year. Nothing new here but there needs to be a fix to it from the County Commissioners to the school board.
Thales and ALA are looking better and better huh?. There’s a hard truth everyone needs to face and that is public education is failing in its duty. It is no longer about educating teaching and giving teachers the ability to teach students. Rather it has become another government bureaucracy where purpose is blurred by politics and power. A program where parents who care about what their children are taught are somehow “ domestic terrorists”, teachers who speak out are rabble rousers and board members who oppose corruption are “ white supremecist’s”. Our schools have become inefffective breeding grounds for mediocrity and apathy. We wonder why there is no respect for teachers when we see hoards protesting any form of authority and scream “ Defund!! Defund!!” And then we wonder why children can’t learn. We wonder why some kids are afraid to go to school, not out of fear of a mass shooting but students walking the halls with weapons, drugs, alcohol and and then given an excuse of “ they’re just kids” or “ well they are EC so it’s just a manifestation of their disability”. Public schools have been transformed into indoctrination camps, where mindless drones are taught what to think and not how to think. Very reminiscent of some of the most evil regimes in history. If possible get your kids out while you still can. I feel we will soon see an attack, either overtly or covertly, on charter, private and home schooling by defunding or decertifying.
Not surprising Johnson is behind this. People were warned about him. What a great example of a corrupt law enforcement officer.
Interesting how this turned into character attacks rather the issue of board of Ed members and county staff conspiring to hide money from the county commissioners. I wonder why?
Did you watch WRAL tonight. Didn’t seem like they were hiding anything. Also, seems like they have done this in the past as well. Also, seems to me they were trying to keep the money to be used in our schools. Not a character attack. Just the truth. He is a bad dude who conspired with others to bring down certain people and have had the information since spring. Why release it just now.
Much ado about nothing
agreed
Parents and Taxpayers do you remember back in January 2020 when our $180-K-Carroll returned to the political stage as a courageous budget hawk and demanding through his local prominent attorney the school officials to hand over public documents requested on behalf of Kay Carroll, a candidate for the Board of Education. $180-K-Carroll was concerned about 16 million dollar transfer that had happened back in 2010? Hum,Hummm???? Parents and Tax Payers just let this soak in for a while and never fear, we will be back here to help understand how all of this gets tied together?
The link for the news story would help to visualize what is going on here?
https://jocoreport.com/johnston-county-school-board-threatened-with-lawsuit/
All of JoCo government is corrupt…. Look at the county Planning Board!!!! It ALL needs to be completely restaffed!!!!!!
“Transparency has been a goal of this board of education as a means of building understanding and accountability within the community.” https://www.johnston.k12.nc.us/Page/3139
Transparency is what taxpayers are entitled to, but never get.
#IStandWithRonJohnson
So, as I suspected, this was a hoax/fraud perpetrated on the people of Johnston County by ALL involved. How many times have we seen news stories over the years where it was later learned the tape/video was edited to fit a certain narrative. The above video with Antoine and Donovan was scripted. CAAG leader and likely GOP leadership were knowledgable and possibly complicit in this. Johnson was somehow supposed to be vindicated by this. As reported on Dave Marshburn and Joe Preston’s podcast last night, source’s to them revealed the real, full length recording and reasoning behind it. This is the GOP, my own party acting subversively against Johnston County’s citizens. NOTHING here benefits the recruiting/retention of teachers and staff, the students or, how to improve the instruction and rating of the schools. If people like this will act this way PRIOR to the election, what lack of transparency, hoax, etc. would they perpetrate on us AFTER they’re elected?!
And I am going to go back to what I have said on multiple JCPS board articles here… EVERYONE of them needs to go!!! Not a single one on the board has acted in the best interests of the schools, county, employees or citizens for many years now! Fire ALL of them and start fresh including Bracy. It’s the only way to send a message that we the people are done with this corruption and lack of transparency. The taxpayers are done paying for the (s)elected to do what they want to do with our money instead of what we the people want them to do.
Zukowski was paid for doing a job she was not eligible to do when she moved and the board covered it up.
Money went missing and we the people have never been told where it went.
Allegations after allegations of misconduct by members of this board make the news but never go anywhere.
FIRE them ALL
Basically you’re telling us your an anarchist who doesn’t give a sh*t about our county or school system.
You’re complaining about a charge that has been shown to be completely fabricated (that means made up) and put forward only to help a few desperate people get some votes.
How about you grow the h*ll up and become a part of the solution instead of the problem.
The BOE meeting tonight is great! The whistleblower just had smoke blow up in his face.
Well, this didn’t age well, did it?
Where’s Captain Obvious extolling the heroic work of Antoine, Donovan, and Johnson?
Except of course now we know they were all LYING. We know that Johnson was breaking protocol by even recording the meeting, but it didn’t matter anyway because what they were talking about was PRESENTED in a LIVE OPEN SESSION BOARD MEETING, and that the County Commissioners knew too because they had to AUTHORIZE the movement of the $8 million.
Antoine and Donovan are looking to get on this school board so that they can TEAR THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM APART. And I know – there’s a bunch of you cuckoos who want that to happen. But for the rest of us with working brains and the ability to reason logically, we want a school system that works and that benefits our schools. We HAD that once. By the way, is it a coincidence that the School Board when to hell right about the time Johnson came on board???
If you’re voting for Antoine and Donovan, you HATE JCPS, you HATE the people, families, and students of JCPS, and quite frankly you pretty much HATE everyone except yourself.
Shame on all those who perpetrated this fraud, and to those who published it. I absolutely hope the defamation of character lawsuit gets filed quickly.
bworl I love your comments. I watched the BOE meeting last night and any questions and concerns about the allegations have been cleared up. You do not need a BOE member that always creates chaos to puff themselves up to look as if they are being treated unfairly, that’s so Trumpian.
And the 2 that helped release the audio we don’t need on the board. My question is why want Terry tippet in that video with them releasing it. I thought they where ADT security. I bet he knew it was bull crap
I’m right here. I’m not sure I “ extolled the heroic work” but I understand the hyperbole to make yourself seem quick witted. I simply stated that certain board members, in an effort to deceive the county commissioners, tried to play economic hide and seek with taxpayer funds. I find that unethical at the least. Furthermore, many on this board did in fact try to hide a high ranking official in the school system with sexual harassment claims against him/her, which was a fact. Thirdly, certain board members knowingly allowed Tracey Zuckowski remain on the board when they knew she did not live in the county anymore, which is a requirement to serve. I also don’t believe Mr. Carroll attempt to push through a contract for over $180,000 with a former superintendent for a job the county didn’t need, was ethical either. The fact that you dismiss these says more about your character than mine. But I guess that’s status quo for certain political parties.
Matthew 7:3