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News Article

Liz Riley Part of Successful Effort to Save N.C. Governor’s School

February 21, 2012

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RALEIGH, N.C.—In September 2011, Womble Carlyle attorney Liz Riley and other members of a state-wide blue ribbon task force were given the task of saving North Carolina’s popular Governor’s School program. That mission was accomplished in February 2012, the Governor’s School Foundation announced that it had raised enough money to continue the program in 2012.
 
Every summer, the North Carolina Governor’s School holds multi-week residential programs for academically gifted and talented high school students from across North Carolina, held on the Meredith College and Salem College campuses in Raleigh and Winston-Salem, respectively. The program was founded in 1963 and is the oldest of its kind in the country.
 
The North Carolina General Assembly eliminated funding for the program in its 2012 budget, citing the state’s severe financial crunch. In response, the State Board of Education formed the North Carolina Governor’s School Task Force to find a way to continue the program for the summer of 2012. Riley was one of the business, civic and education leaders chosen to be a part of the Task Force.
 
As a result, the Governor’s School Foundation has raised more than $700,000 in private donations from individuals, businesses and foundations, which will allow the North Carolina Governor’s School to operate programs during the summer of 2012 on both the Meredith College and Salem College campuses. The foundation will continue to raise money to help bring as many of North Carolina’s “best and brightest” high school students to the program this summer.
 
 
Liz Riley is an education law attorney who provides advice and support in areas including school policy, governance, compliance, risk and claims management, financing issues and construction law. Liz is experienced with the organization, licensure and chartering requirements necessary to establish new schools, auxiliary or foreign campuses and degree-granting programs. She practices in Womble Carlyle’s Raleigh, N.C., office.