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Lawrence
Perry, president of the National Alumni
Association of DuBois High School, sent
a letter to some alumni last week asking
they pay their annual pledges as quickly
as possible in order to pay the attorney
and CPA he has hired.
Perry, who is also called
Eugene, says the attorney and audit are
necessary since the break with the
long-time director, Bettie Murchison,
and her staff. “We have been very busy
with trying to preserve our tax free
status, which is requiring legal
representation and an audit to clear the
organization of any wrong doings [sic],
which others are responsible for.”
Perry has advanced $5,000 to
Kenneth Hinton, a Smithfield attorney,
and $7,500 to Lee Jackson, a Smithfield
CPA.
Perry claims that Murchison
acted improperly in setting up several
bank accounts and removed some DuBois
Center equipment. Although he has
threatened legal action, no suit has
apparently been filed.
The Wage and Hour Bureau in
the state Department of Labor is
continuing to investigate claims by
former center employees who left with
Murchison at the end of February that
they have not been paid for their work
that month. Henry Sasser, the deputy
administrator, said he may have some
information about the investigation
later this week.
Wake County’s Department of
Human Services paid the center $142,777
in March for the work done in February
by counselors and case managers in the
mental health counseling program. As of
two weeks ago, George C. Jones Sr., the
center’s interim director, had paid
$76,639 in salaries, leaving $67,138
unaccounted for.
Murchison says there are 19
staff members who have not been paid.
She also said there is no basis for
Perry’s claims that the alumni
association’s 501(3)(C) tax status was
threatened by any of her actions or the
programs at the center when she was
director.
Jones refers to Jackson when
asked why everyone has not been paid.
“According to the CPA, we’ve paid
everybody we’re supposed to pay.” Jones
has confirmed that he and his staff are
being paid.
The alumni association took
on a large burden when they purchased
the 17-acre DuBois School campus for
$325,000. The mortgage remaining is now
less than $75,000, Perry wrote, and the
annual payment of $26,000 is now covered
by the rent the Wake County Public
School System pays for the modular
Forest Pines Elementary School. The
contract with the school system sets
the annual rent at $36,000.
In his letter, Perry
promised to open the books. “Each member
will receive statement of all, repeat
all income and expenditure.”
He also announced there will
be a general alumni meeting on May 27 at
the school. The association has
traditionally met over Memorial Day and
Labor Day weekends.
In his letter Perry promised
information to the alumni and said the
reports about the center they received
in the past “were very miss leading
[sic]. Some of the programs were good,
however, they were not benefiting our
alumni association or our members. As
you may note you didn’t receive any
correspondence pertaining to our
association, it was only about the
DuBois Center and what was taking place
within the center.” |
