Moore County Schools talk attorney fees and books

Moore County School board members said they did not know about attorney fees in other districts during the May 4 work session, but Sandhills News had notified several a week prior of the upcoming attorney fee article published on April 26.

Schwartz Law P.L.L.C. is the legal counsel for the Moore County Board of Education under a retainer that expires June 30, 2026. The original attorney fee budget was $600,000. An additional $60,000 is needed to cover expenses through June.

The attorney’s main legal work falls into four areas: board policies, exceptional children 504 issues, personnel matters, and litigation and pre-litigation.

The district’s attorney fees average about $55,000 monthly.

According to Interim Jennifer Purvis, they discussed updating policies as they became available from the state at the last policy meeting, which was in March. However, there is no mention of that discussion on updating any policy related to attorneys or a discussion on Policy 2610 in the minutes, which is labeled as a “DRAFT”  and are copied at the end of this article as it was available online on May 6, 2026, at 5 a.m.

There is only a mention of discussing 2120 on ethics and the newly revised policies, of which none pertained to attorneys.

Also, the 2025 policy committee’s archived minutes lack any record of discussing Policy 2610 on attorney fees or attorney duties and salary.

“May have that [attorney fees] mentioned in several other places,” Purvis said about attorney fee policies.

Board Member David Hensley said board members called the attorney at will.

The attorney charges for driving to and from meeting, but “he’s been here two hours and hasn’t contributed substantially to the meeting,” Hensley said about alternatively having him available online and during closed sessions and work sessions.

Attorney fees have doubled in five years.

Hensley said they should look at other district’s attorney fees.

“I don’t know,” Madame Chairperson Robin Calcutt said about knowing a comparison on attorney fees with other districts.

Sandhills News published a comparison on April 26, “School Policy 2610 on legal fees: Lee’s protocol leads, Harnett’s tight control, and Moore’s taxpayer burden.”

A week before the article was published, Sandhills News notified Purvis, the public information officer and the policy committee of the upcoming article and requested information.

The comparison article shows Moore County Schools pays 12 times more than Lee County Schools and Moore’s ambiguously written policy is a contributing factor.

Books

Classroom books are reviewed by media specialists but are not in the catalogs.

Each school has a catalog of library books, and parents may request a list of titles in a classroom.

Purchasers do not order books by bundle, but by title. Media specialists annually review titles, age, condition, and alignment with course of study. They create a list based on popularity and ensure books meet state and regional regulations.

Each school has a media committee or improvement team to advise media specialists in creating the final book purchase list.

Purvis said all wish lists cannot be filled in a single year, but subjects, i.e., band, history, may receive a request some years, and other times, aged books and popular books are replaced. “There is no set budget…It is not something we dictate to schools,” she said about local discretion.

Principals are held accountable for books but rely on media specialists to meet appropriateness and state standards.

All books, including donated, must be screened by media specialists.

Discarding books is based on how often a book is checked out, including the classics, which are literary topics required in English curricula, are on EOC exams and SAT tests. The State Department of Public Instruction identifies literary works as classics.

“I’m not sure I like that,” said Member Ken Benway about discarding based on popularity.

One perspective was that it did not matter what students read, even comic books, as long as they read.

Physical condition, currency to curricula and outdated information and appropriateness determine whether a book is discarded. Some are replaced with new versions.

The next school board meeting is a regular meeting that allows public comments. It will be on May 11 at 5:30 p.m.

May 6, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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Copy of the “DRAFT” minutes as they were available on May 6, 2026.

The Moore County Board of Education Policy Committee met on March 31, 2026

with Committee Chair Shannon Davis calling the meeting to order at 4 pm. Also in

attendance were committee members Steve Johnson and Dr. Amy Dahl,

Jennifer Purvis, Interim Superintendent; Jennifer Blue, Board Attorney; Andrea

Burton, Assistant Director for Human Resources; Stefanie Phillips, Assistant

Superintendent for Academics and Student Support Services and Cindy Parker,

Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and Board of Education.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve the November 18, 2025 minutes.

The proposed new/revised policies were discussed. The Committee unanimously

approved the following policies to be moved to First Reading at the Board’s April 14,

2026 work session with the noted amendments.

1. Policy 2120/7100 Specific Assignment

2. Policy 2125/7315 Confidential Information

3. Policy 3101 Dual Enrollment

4. Policy 3400 Evaluation of Student Progress

5. Policy 3460 Graduation Requirements – removed capital “T” on Thereafter

on page 6 and page 10.

6. Policy 4050 Children of Military Families – added United States before Army

on pages 1 and 4; add Space Force after Air Force on page 1.

7. Policy 4240/7312 Child Abuse and Related Threats to Child Safety – page 3

paragraph D – reword this paragraph to read “When such misconduct

results in termination of employment, nonrenewal of an employment

contract, suspension without pay, disciplinary action, or resignation, in

addition to the other reporting requirements of this policy and in

accordance with Section F of Policy 7130, Licensure, administrators shall

report to the State Board of Education certain misconduct by licensed

employees (1) involving physical injury to or sexual contact with a child, (2)

justifying automatic revocation of the employee’s license, or (3) resulting in

certain criminal charges. Note: Add comma right before (2)

8. Policy 4270_6145 Concussion and Head Injury – on page 2 replace of with or

19. Policy 5150/7313 Reporting to External Agencies – removing references to

the following policies on identified pages because the current numbering

system does not match. These will need to be updated once the renumbering project is complete.

● 4152 Unsafe School Choice Transfer (p. 2)

● 4335 Criminal Behavior (p. 1, 4)

● 4345 Student Discipline Records (p. 2)

● 1510/4200/7270-R Responding to Bomb Threats (p. 3, 4, 5)

● 5120 Relationship with Law Enforcement (p. 4)

● 9220 Security of Facilities (p. 4,5)

● 6402 Participation by Historically Underutilized Business (p. 6)

10. Policy 7811 Plans for Growth and Improvement of Licensed Employees

The Committee also reviewed the following policies:

11. Policy 3220 Technology in the Educational Program

12. Policy 3225/4312/7320 Acceptable Use of Technology and Electronic Media

13. Policy 3226/4205 Internet Safety

After discussion, the Committee unanimously voted to table Policy 3220 Technology

in the Educational Program, Policy 3225/4312/7320 Acceptable Use of Technology

and Electronic Media and Policy 3226/4205 Internet Safety to allow staff an

opportunity to review further.

Policy 2120 Code of Ethics for School Board Members was briefly discussed which

included potential stages of consequences. The Committee asked for samples to be

provided at their next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7 p.m.