In 2016, then Rep. Rob Bryan and the House Committee on Education, pushed through a bill that would establish an ASD (Achievement School District) in North Carolina allowing the control of some of the state’s low-performing schools to be outsourced to out-of-state entities.

That ASD was renamed the Innovative School District (ISD) in 2017 in an attempt to “relabel” it under a more favorable light.

After a rather contentious selection process that saw communities galvanize to keep their “under-preforming” schools from being put into the ISD, one school was then selected and marked to be taken over by an outside entity – Southside Ashpole Elementary School in Robeson County.

It is almost spring here in 2019 and the ISD still has only one school under its umbrella – Southside Ashpole.

There are approximately 200 students there.

But the bureaucratic oversight that the ISD currently has is rather expansive. Take a look at this page: ISD TEAM.

According to this profile, the ISD has the following filled positions:

• Superintendent. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty who is rumored to be making more than some veteran superintendents of many rural counties.
• Chief Operating Officer. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
• Human Resources Manager. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
• Operations Specialist. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
• Finance Manager. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
• Communications & External Affairs. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.

Makes one wonder how much money we as a state are spending on these salaries.

Oh, and don’t forget, that these people are not even in Robeson County to help oversee their one-school district.

How in the world is this innovative? Mr. Johnson?