Taxpayer Dollars Feeding Private School Greed
The O’Neal School is the most expensive private school in Moore County, North Carolina. Yearly tuition starts at $15,575 for kindergarten and elementary students and climbs to $20,990 for middle and high school. Despite these steep costs, the organization raises tuition almost every year while continuously seeking additional funding.
This relentless pursuit of money begins at the start of each academic year. The Annual Fund is marketed as a voluntary campaign, but in practice, it is treated as a required obligation. The administration employs a variety of tactics to pressure families into donating, including frequent emails, repeated reminders, and direct outreach from staff. They also recruit parents as “grade-level chairs”—volunteers who have already donated but are now expected to badger their peers to contribute as well. These parents receive lists of non-donors and are instructed to contact them weekly until they comply.
“As you know, tuition alone does not cover the cost of educating our students … Each week, you will receive a list of names and email addresses of parents in your child’s grade who need the aforementioned nudge to make a donation. We ask that you email this group, all blind copied, each week.” — Blanche Hancock, Institutional Advancement & Alumni Relations
Many find this role degrading, as they are essentially begging others for pocket change, even when it’s clear that some families are already financially strained. If these efforts fail, Board Members personally step in to call and question the families about why they have not contributed to the fund. The entire process fosters resentment and discomfort, yet leadership continues to position it as essential to the school’s success.
O’Neal insists that Annual Fund donations are critical to “bridge the gap” between tuition revenue and the actual cost of education. However, financial records tell a different story. In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the school reported total revenue of $8,546,293, including a surplus of $773,959, with contributions from this fund accounting for barely 2% of its income. These donations were clearly not essential for survival but instead were solicited to extract every possible dollar from parents.
Families are also urged to financially support the Charity Benefit Auction, the Falcon Club for athletics, the Parent Association, and periodic Capital Campaigns for larger campus upgrades—all while paying thousands more for the new mandatory lunch program. As if bleeding their own community dry wasn’t enough, O’Neal has now turned to taxpayers, tapping into public money through the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship program.
Originally designed to help low-income families afford private school tuition, the Opportunity Scholarship program has been expanded due to legislative changes, removing income caps and allowing even the wealthiest families to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies. The O’Neal School actively promotes these scholarships on its website, despite already catering to affluent families.
“The NC Opportunity Scholarship is a state-funded program offered through the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA). This income-based scholarship award ranges from $3,360 up to $7,468 per eligible student, per academic year.” – The O’Neal School Website (Tuition and Affordability)
Former Governor Roy Cooper called the voucher program “the biggest threat to public schools in decades.” Public schools lose funding for every student who opts into a private institution since their budgets are based on enrollment. Critics argue that rural schools suffer the most, as they have fixed operating costs that remain unchanged even as student populations shrink. The result is fewer resources for the remaining students making it even harder for public schools to provide a quality education.
| Top 3 Moore County Voucher Recipients | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fellowship Christian Academy | $237,627 | $384,803 | $781,801 |
| St. John Paul II Catholic School | $234,384 | $357,060 | $625,621 |
| The O’Neal School | $86,661 | $181,776 | $845,304 |
Data Provided by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority
Over the past three years, The O’Neal School’s families have received $1,113,741 in Opportunity Scholarships—money that could have improved public schools in Moore County. For example, an elementary school in the area that serves nearly 400 students recently received an “F” for its performance rating. Had this money been redirected, each student could have benefitted from an additional $2,750 in support for classroom materials, teacher training, and essential resources. These funds would likely have made a substantial impact not just on a few hundred students but on the overall quality of the institution for years to come.
Instead, O’Neal often spends money on luxury items like underwater speakers for its pool, a decorative gazebo, and campus beautification projects. Additionally, its ownership structure has allowed private investors to personally benefit from improvements made to the campus, blurring the lines between philanthropy and financial gain.
Statewide, the Opportunity Scholarship program is projected to cost taxpayers over $380 million in the 2024-2025 school year. While supporters claim these scholarships provide families with choices, they ultimately divert public money into private institutions that are not held to the same standards. Unlike public schools, which must provide transportation, special education services, and comply with state and federal regulations, private schools can pick and choose their students, set their own policies, and operate with little to no transparency.
This isn’t to say that we are against private schools. In fact, we believe that the more educational options families have, the better. Unfortunately, without proper oversight, there is no way to hold organizations accountable for what they do with these funds, and some private schools are simply much better at managing themselves than others.
Sandhills Classical Christian School, located just up the road, serves over 500 students from preschool through 12th grade on a similarly sized campus. Unlike O’Neal, its tuition is about half the cost, making its rigorous education more accessible without relying on taxpayer subsidies. Notably, Sandhills Classical Christian has accepted $0—absolutely zero dollars—in Opportunity Scholarships, demonstrating that a private school can operate successfully without diverting public funds away from public education.
North Carolina is currently engaged in a desperate fight to safeguard public school funding while warding off additional private school voucher expansions. For those concerned about the future of public education, Public Schools First NC advocates for fair and equitable funding for all students. They work to raise awareness about policies that threaten public school resources and provide data-driven insights on how school vouchers impact communities. To learn more and support their mission, visit Public Schools First NC.
Even if you are not directly supporting O’Neal by enrolling your children, your tax dollars are fueling its unchecked financial greed.