A potential new charter school in Lillington could serve elementary and middle school students.
The school's backers say it will serve families in Harnett County and nearby counties. North Carolina charter schools receive local county current-expense funds as one source of funding, according to EdNC.
ALA Capeton will be managed day-to-day by Charter One, an Arizona-based education management company. The News & Observer's reporting notes that Charter One will provide start-up funding and marketing support and typically invests up to $30 million to build a new charter school's facility. In exchange, ALA Capeton will pay the company up to 15% of its annual revenues, more than $1.1 million a year.
Charter School Financing
North Carolina charter schools receive no state funds for capital outlay or building debt service, leaving governing boards dependent on private financing to acquire land and construct facilities, according to the John Locke Foundation. North Carolina law allows charter school boards to contract with for-profit companies. Rita Haire said school leaders need expertise to run operations they lack the knowledge or experience to manage, per the same News & Observer account.
Wake Preparatory Academy is a Franklin County charter school near the Wake County line, the same pattern now emerging with ALA Capeton's planned draw on southern Wake County families.
The Founder's Background
Charter One was founded by Glenn Way, whose businesses profited from charter-school real estate deals, according to The Post and Courier. Mitchell Schwab, Charter One's vice president of business development and legal affairs, said Way has a big heart for helping economically disadvantaged students, per the News & Observer's reporting.
Charter One's North Carolina campuses have drawn scrutiny over academic performance. At the time of the ALA Monroe application, recent performance data was not publicly available, WCNC reported.
A Shifted Approval Process
The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board's authority differs from the process Charter One applications once faced. The board gained its authority after a 2023 law converted the former advisory board into a new body and transferred primary authority over charter approvals, denials and renewals away from the State Board of Education, according to EdNC.
The State Board of Education had previously rejected multiple Charter One-managed applications before losing that approval authority. According to the Carolina Journal, the State Board's authority over charter approvals shifted to the review board.
Part of a Larger Wave of Applications
Eleven new charter school applications were filed in North Carolina in 2026, though not every applicant succeeded — the review board rejected the application for Virtual Active Learning Academy of North Carolina, per the News & Observer's reporting.
North Carolina has charter schools statewide. ALA Capeton is planned as a brick-and-mortar school that will start with elementary and middle grades before expanding to include high school. The school will spend the next two years in a mandatory planning period, during which Charter Schools Review Board guidelines require applicants to demonstrate a feasible physical site has been identified before seeking final approval in 2028.
Some North Carolina public charter schools are managed by for-profit education management organizations. Charter schools remain taxpayer-funded even as they are exempt from some rules that traditional public schools must follow, a distinction that shapes how closely families watch charter schools' progress.
