NC school board member resigns on eve of election runoff after doctorate questioned

Orange County Schools Board of Education member Jennifer Moore submitted her resignation Wednesday after questions were raised about her doctorate degree and in the middle of a re-election runoff.

Bellevue University officials told The News & Observer this week they do not have a record of Moore attending the school or earning a doctorate in 2021.

Moore has not returned a phone call or emails from The N&O seeking comment.

Her campaign treasurer, Meaghun Darab, responded Thursday on Moore’s behalf, saying “I really do not think you will get a statement from Jennifer in response to your questions.”

School Board Chair Anne Purcell confirmed Moore’s decision to resign in a phone interview Friday, but declined to share Moore’s reasons for leaving the board. The school board will vote at its meeting Monday as required to accept her resignation, Purcell said.

“I know this was a hard decision for her, and I respect her decision, and I’m very sorry that she feels she has to resign,” Purcell said. “I appreciate the time that I have served on the board with her, and I appreciate her service to Orange County Schools.”

Does Moore have a master’s, doctoral degrees?

The first round of voting in the nonpartisan school board race was marked by social media and blog posts about the candidates, including comments that Moore’s eventual runoff opponent, incumbent Bonnie Hauser, was backed by right-wing political groups.

Robert Castona, founder of the conservative New Group of Patriot, told The N&O in a phone interview that his group initially supported three candidates but made a mistake including Hauser, who is a Democrat, and removed all three names from its website before the March 5 election.

A recent tip to The News & Observer questioned whether Moore had earned a doctorate in 2021.

Former Orange County Superintendent Monique Felder first announced Moore’s doctorate in business administration in a June 5, 2021, email to the school board and top administration officials, records showed.

Felder also congratulated Moore during the June 7, 2021, school board meeting. The agenda for that meeting said Moore’s doctoral dissertation at Bellevue University was titled, “Implementing Needs Assessment and Task Analysis in North Carolina Public Schools.”

She has since been listed as “Dr. Jennifer Moore” on the Orange County School’s board page and referred to as “Dr. Moore” in meetings.

However, The N&O contacted Bellevue University in Nebraska and Bellevue College in Washington state and was told neither school has a record of Moore attending or earning a doctoral degree.

The N&O confirmed Moore earned master’s degrees with distinction in business administration in 2014 and performance improvement in 2016 from Grantham University in Arkansas.

She also received an N.C. Peer Support Specialist certification in January 2023, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the UNC School of Social Work.

Moore’s opponent, Hauser, graduated from New York University in 1981 with a master’s degree in business administration and also received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1974.

Hauser is a retired management consultant and partner with Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Felder also did not return a phone call seeking more information about Moore’s doctorate. However, she wrote a letter endorsing Moore that is posted on her campaign website.

How will resignation affect school board runoff?

Moore’s resignation does not change the May 14 election runoff with Hauser, Orange County Elections Director Rachel Raper said. The ballots have already been sent out to absentee voters, and early voting begins Thursday.

Moore ended up in the runoff after placing third in the March 5 race to fill three Orange County Schools Board of Education seats.

Board member Carrie Doyle and newcomer Wendy Padilla took the top two seats and will join the board in July. Moore only got 6,528 votes — 60 votes short of the majority required to seal her victory.

In Orange County, state law requires dividing the total votes cast for all the candidates by the number of open seats, in this case three. That number is then divided by two, in this case requiring each winning candidate to have at least 6,588 votes.

Hauser, who got 6,406 votes, announced March 15 that she wanted a runoff, because the “election is really important to our students and families.”

Moore said in a news release that she looked forward to making progress in the schools, academic excellence and providing staff and teachers with “fair and competitive compensation.”

“Sometimes we have to fight extra hard for the things we love,” she said.

Runoffs in the statewide elections for lieutenant governor and state auditor are also set for May 14. In-person early voting starts Thursday.

Does Moore operate a nonprofit foundation?

Moore is a former exceptional children’s instructional assistant in Wayne, Durham and Orange County Schools and is currently an administrative assistant in Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

She’s also the founder of the Lennix James Foundation LLC, which is not registered with the N.C. Secretary of State or the IRS, according to state and federal records.

Its website says it is a small business offering “a safe space for sharing, listening, learning, and supporting each other,” and links visitors to a online store, Joyful Scents, a blog page and Moore’s “Empowering Minds” podcast, which also has a YouTube channel.

A related Facebook page was taken down this week.

Was that Moore’s first foundation?

Records showed Moore registered a different nonprofit, the James Lennix Foundation Inc., with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office in 2017. She has not registered the foundation as a nonprofit with the IRS or filed any 990 tax documents, according to federal records.

NC Secretary of State spokeswoman Liz Proctor said a nonprofit is not required to make annual state filings, but needs to update any name changes. Nonprofits also have to be licensed every year to raise money, she said, but the James Lennix Foundation does not appear to solicit donations.

It did hold four virtual education-related events in 2021 on YouTube, however, which were advertised as a partnership with the district on its Twitter and Facebook accounts. Moore’s tie to the foundation was not mentioned.

The James Lennix website calls the foundation a Hillsborough life coach provider. A background search showed the phone number on the website was previously associated with Moore but is now registered to a different person.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com