NC lawmakers want state audits of group that runs high school sports
Some North Carolina lawmakers want greater oversight on the organization that runs sports for the state’s public schools.
Proposed legislation filed in the Senate on Monday would require any organization chosen by the State Board of Education to oversee interscholastic sports to agree in writing to audits by the state auditor. The legislation comes as several lawmakers have raised questions about the finances of the N.C. High School Athletic Association and how it disciplines schools.
The co-sponsors of Senate Bill 548 are Republican Sens. Todd Johnson of Union County, Tom McInnis of Richmond County and Vickie Sawyer of Iredell County.
The News & Observer couldn’t reach NCHSAA by email Monday afternoon. But NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said at a news conference last month that the group first began getting questioned by lawmakers two years ago when Anson Senior High was banned from the football playoffs due to multiple ejections for fighting during a game with Richmond Senior High.
Last month, WRAL reported that McInnis watched the game tapes and didn’t agree that there was enough evidence to warrant suspending Anson. McInnis contacted the NCHSAA, and he told the Raleigh news organization that he didn’t like the response he got.
“It wasn’t a maybe, or we’ll think about it,” he was quoted as saying. “It was an absolutely not. It was a dictatorship. They said, ‘We would set a bad precedent.’”
Questions raised about finances
Also last month, several other legislators came forward with concerns about the association. Some are interested in the association’s finances and how it handles charter and private schools within the membership.
Jerry Simmons, president of the NCHSAA, said at the press conference “over the past several days, it’s been infuriating to hear comments” from lawmakers. He said they range from “being ill informed to just plain wrong.”
He said the association is audited once per year and “is not lining the pockets of staff and board members.”
He said the NCHSAA has already distributed more than $2.4 million of a $4 million allotment from its endowment to schools to help offset revenues lost due to coronavirus. But the NCHSAA has $40 million in assets at a time when the pandemic has left sports programs struggling.
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