Murphy – A lawsuit filed by former employees of The Learning Center charter school is set for a jury trial after 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024.
The matter will be heard in Cherokee County Superior Court before Judge Gary Gavenus. There is still a possibility that the case will be continued.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in July 2022 are Carrie Dyer, Cheryl Catuto, Sean Bain, Katie Beaver, Cheryl Kirby, Shelley Farmer, Louise Smith, Carol Jean Smith, Cynthia Harmon, Dana Bollard, David T. Grant, Robyn Woods, Maureen Monica, Jessie Adams, Brittany Karageanes, Shirly Kephart, Judy Coleman and Fenris Ulfhamr. They are represented by local attorney Zeyland McKinney Jr.
In May 2022, school executive Stephanie Hopper notified employees that the charter was closing, and that there was no money to pay employees their remaining wages, bonuses and retirement matches. Individual amounts owed range from $2,000-$5,000.
Some of the plaintiffs also left personal belongings at the school during the rush to close the campus. They want it back or to be compensated for their losses.
The school employed about 35 full-time and four part-time employees before it closed. There were 213 children enrolled at the charter during the 2021-22 school year.
The former campus at 945 Connahetta St. was sold last month to RP8 LLC, which has local officers, at a price of $539,000 for the real estate and $15,000 for personal property. The Cherokee County Tax Assessor’s Office appraised the property’s value at just shy of $1.16 million in 2019, when the school was still open, but the property has since been appraised at $490,000, according to court documents.
Due to The Learning Center being a recipient of taxpayer funds, Cherokee County sent a letter to the Murphy Police Department requesting a criminal investigation into the charter school’s finances. In previous situations similar to this, the State Bureau of Investigation has often come in to assist local agencies.