Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools violated North Carolina’s public records law by withholding a tally of rapes and sexual assaults at schools from WBTV reporter Nick Ochsner, according to a court-appointed mediator’s report.
The tally, which came to light only when a confidential source provided it to Ochsner in May, lists reports of sexual offenses from 2010 to 2015. It summarizes what was reported, where the incident took place and what disciplinary action resulted but has all identifying information about students blacked out.
WBTV sued CMS in 2021 for access to records related to such incidents. Several students accused CMS of mishandling sexual assault reports at Myers Park High and other schools.
In 2023 Stephen Dunn was appointed “special master” to handle mediation between CMS and WBTV over whether the district was following the state’s public records law. Dunn reviewed affidavits and documents, including a closed-door look at documents that might be deemed confidential.
Dunn’s report says CMS never produced the tally that Ochsner published in May. He says CMS told him in a report and in an affidavit from General Counsel André Mayes that “no such records exist.”
Dunn revisited the case in June, after WBTV reported on and released the leaked tally. In a report released Friday, Dunn concluded that CMS and Mayes had falsely reported that the records did not exist and improperly withheld them from WBTV and from Dunn himself.
CMS sent Dunn’s report to the media just after 7 p.m. Friday with this statement from the Board of Education:
"While the Board is disappointed and disagrees with the Special Master’s determination, at all times during this litigation, we were acting in the best interest of the students by protecting the confidentiality of student information.
Although we must comply with the Special Master’s determination in this instance, we have an ongoing obligation to protect student records and we will continue to make every effort to safeguard our students’ confidential information.
The Board and General Counsel acted with integrity and propriety, and with the best interest of students in mind."
You can read Ochsner’s report on the ruling here.
