NC Lt. Gov. files amended ethics report after WBTV investigation
Mark Robinson initially failed to disclose wife’s charter school board seats
RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTV) - North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson has amended his 2023 State of Economic Interest, online filings show.
Robinson pledged to file an emended ethics form after a WBTV investigation found he had failed to formally disclose his wife’s position on the boards of several charter schools.
Online records maintained by the N.C. Ethics Commission show Robinson filed the amended form on October 4.
The amended form detailed the positions that Robinson’s wife’s, Yolanda Hill, has on the boards of two charter schools.
According to the filing, Hill sits on the boards of American Leadership Academy and Revolution Academy.
Prior to the amended filing, Hill’s affiliation with American Leadership Academy had been publicly disclosed but WBTV did not previously have records disclosing her role with Revolution Academy.
Previous Story: NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson vows to correct ‘mistake’ on ethics filing
Robinson recused himself from two votes of the N.C. State Board of Education on whether to approve a charter for a school in Monroe proposed by American Leadership Academy, meetings minutes show.
The board denied the school’s charter both times.
The N.C. General Assembly has since passed a law implementing a new Charter School Review Board—on which the lieutenant governor would sit, in addition to other members appointed in part by Republican legislative leaders—to handle charter school approvals.
Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the bill creating the new review board. It was overridden by the General Assembly in August. Robinson was presiding over the Senate on August 16 when the bill was overridden.
A spokesman for Robinson originally scheduled an interview with WBTV for Robinson to answer questions for our first report on his failure to disclose his wife’s board positions but cancelled the evening before the interview was set to take place.
Instead, the spokesman sent the following statement:
“Transparency and ethics are a top priority to Lt. Gov. Robinson. That is why he recused himself from relevant Board of Education votes and discussions from the very beginning of the American Leadership Academy’s application process. It is also important to note that his wife serves in a volunteer capacity on their board and receives no compensation in that role. This is nothing more than an honest mistake that we are working to correct as soon as possible.”
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