The Brunswick County Board of Education has improperly withheld $1,097,673.68 from these Brunswick public school students since 2001. They acknowledge this, yet have refused to refund the withheld monies. This petition aims to urge these elected officials “Do the Right Thing” by respecting their duty to provide equal educational opportunities for all Brunswick County public school students.

They’ve shortchanged our public charter students by misusing the state-mandated funding formula. It requires that all public students receive equal amounts of local monies. Since 2001 in Brunswick County, however, students who choose public charter schools have been given fewer funds than students who choose public district schools.

Our school discovered this practice of discrimination in 2011 and sought court judgments against six school districts for improperly withholding funds.  All of these districts have acknowledged and corrected their error except Brunswick County, which possesses the largest portion of withheld funds. Monies due to our students make up 9% of their $11 Million dollar fund balance.

While this money sits in Brunswick County School’s savings, our school has had to dig into our savings to cover these wrongfully withheld per-pupil funds. These funds should have been going to provide additional educational opportunities and resources—such as libraries, technology, and buses—for these Brunswick County public school students.

The Brunswick County Board of Education withholds these funds at our students’ expense. Sign this petition to urge them to approve our settlement offer of $1,097,673.68 at their next regular meeting on October 7, 2014.

We hope to collect the signatures of as many concerned Brunswick County residents as possible, each imploring the Board to “Do the Right Thing.” Will you help us by signing and sharing this petition?