The Megyn Kelly Show - NC Supreme Court Revives Case After Parents Challenged Woke Insanity, Kids Expelled： AM Update 9⧸7

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00:00:30.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. Happy Labor Day. It's Monday, September 7th,

00:00:37.720 2026, and this is your AM Update. They wanted to, in secret, turn it into basically a woke

00:00:44.440 indoctrination center that went and repudiated everything that the school had ever stood for.

00:00:52.140 Two children abruptly expelled from their school after their parents questioned its

00:00:56.860 radical new direction. The family now getting another chance to hold the school accountable.

00:01:02.040 Coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

00:01:08.420 We are still a couple months out, but the midterms are fast approaching. And make no mistake,

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00:01:55.060 and get a free info kit and some solid information. The midterms will be here before

00:02:00.260 you know it. Don't wait. Text MK to 989898. A North Carolina family gets another chance

00:02:09.260 to seek justice nearly five years after a prestigious private school expelled their

00:02:14.620 two children, allegedly retaliating after the parents challenged its sudden embrace of left-wing

00:02:20.760 ideology. Doug and Nicole Turpin accusing Charlotte Latin School of abandoning its

00:02:26.180 traditional apolitical approach to education amid the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter insanity

00:02:31.700 of 2020, then punishing their innocent children when they, as parents, spoke up. The family's

00:02:38.580 lawsuit initially running into a series of legal setbacks, a trial court dismissing eight of the

00:02:44.120 Turpin's nine claims, prompting the family to voluntarily drop the remaining claim without

00:02:48.400 prejudice and pursue an appeal. The North Carolina Court of Appeals later upholding those dismissals.

00:02:54.400 The North Carolina Supreme Court last month reviving parts of the couple's lawsuit,

00:02:59.620 finding they adequately pleaded several claims previously dismissed by lower courts.

00:03:04.860 The 5-2 ruling not deciding whether the Turpin's allegations are true,

00:03:09.300 but allowing their legal fight to go forward. The family's son and daughter attending

00:03:13.980 Charlotte Latton from the time they were very young until their abrupt expulsion at ages 11

00:03:19.140 and 13. Charlotte Latton undergoing a leadership change in July 2019 when Chuck Baldecky took over

00:03:27.000 as headmaster. Doug Turpin telling AM Update that parents began encountering deeply troubling

00:03:33.360 changes the following school year, including material they never imagined their children

00:03:38.180 would see at Charlotte Latin. When the new headmaster came in, Chuck Baldecky, they decided

00:03:46.080 they wanted to go into a fundamentally different direction without telling anybody. They wanted

00:03:53.720 to, in secret, turn it into basically a woke indoctrination center that went and repudiated

00:04:01.480 everything that the school had ever stood for. So in our mind, it was kind of like education

00:04:07.220 fraud. So when we started seeing things like a picture of Jesus with his throat cut and black

00:04:15.760 blood pooling down his shirt with the words, God is dead, hung up his artwork in the hallway for

00:04:21.980 the young kids to see. Or a picture of a police officer with a pig basically representing him 0.91

00:04:29.640 in a police officer's uniform with all cops are bastards. Or there was a gay sex manual with 1.00

00:04:35.900 explicit images all the way through it of how to have gay sex, but in the young children's section 0.99

00:04:41.820 of the library. We were all just shocked and horrified. According to the family's complaint, 0.98

00:04:47.560 Charlotte Latton declaring itself, quote, an anti-racist academic institution in June 2020

00:04:53.620 and pledging to make diversity, equity, and inclusion policies which, in fact, divide and

00:04:59.840 assign value to children according to a racial hierarchy foundational to the school's broader

00:05:05.380 long-term direction. Nicole Turpin describing how the school's new direction made a place their

00:05:10.560 family once loved feel increasingly unrecognizable. Charlotte Lanson was the very first school that we

00:05:17.740 ever went to. My whole life was going from our house to Charlotte Lanson, you know, volunteering,

00:05:25.140 talking to the teachers. It was just a very nurturing environment that our children grew

00:05:30.900 up in. So this is when the old headmaster was there. But when the new headmaster came, everything

00:05:38.380 changed. It just became colder and parents weren't invited in because it was when

00:05:46.100 the pandemic was going on. But up until that point, it was really our second home and we

00:05:52.640 absolutely loved it and had a fantastic experience. The Turpins, far from the only parents,

00:05:58.760 alarmed by the school's new direction. Doug saying families were not initially demanding

00:06:03.480 a particular outcome. They were seeking honest answers about what Charlotte Latin intended to

00:06:08.820 teach their children. This was going on with parents all over the place and there was an

00:06:13.660 uproar. All we wanted to do was have dialogue and ask questions about what do you intend to

00:06:20.760 teach our children? What are you doing? How are things changing? So Refocus Latin was our parent

00:06:28.120 group and there were dozens and dozens of parents and it was growing all the time organically. It

00:06:34.060 just sprung up because we were all so concerned and we were being gaslit. So what we wanted to

00:06:39.880 do was have dialogue and just get a basic question answered. You're changing the fundamental character

00:06:46.520 of this school. How are you planning on doing it? What are you teaching our children?

00:06:52.060 The group refocused Latin eventually requesting an opportunity to present its concerns directly

00:06:57.200 to the school's board. Some parents reportedly warning board chair Denny O'Leary that they

00:07:02.580 feared retaliation against their families. Doug describing how the refocused Latin parents were

00:07:08.100 brought into that meeting on August 24th, 2021, and what he says happened when they asked the

00:07:14.040 school for answers. The board invited us to come into a meeting and explain our concerns.

00:07:21.700 they promised us there'd be no retaliation allowed and so we did that at their request

00:07:29.540 we went in there and i and showed them a presentation that's on the honor above all

00:07:34.720 dot org website that outlined all of these horrifying things that we were seeing and

00:07:41.120 hearing and just ask them to tell us what do you guys intend to do and they basically said

00:07:49.000 thank you for sharing. We're not going to answer any of your questions. At the end of the meeting,

00:07:54.360 O'Leary reportedly telling the group neither the board nor administrators would continue the

00:07:59.180 dialogue. Head of school Chuck Baldecky later allegedly instructing teachers and staff not to

00:08:05.240 engage with parents about the dispute, telling them to refer any questions directly to him.

00:08:10.500 Less than two weeks after the board meeting, the Turpins noticing what they believed was a

00:08:15.400 troubling change in the way their sixth grade son was being treated in one of his classes.

00:08:20.760 Nicole and Doug on what their son, an 11-year-old boy, began telling them at home.

00:08:27.300 His issues were that he wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom when he would ask,

00:08:31.820 or he wasn't allowed to drink water. It just sounded very targeted. And also,

00:08:37.500 he came home one day and said that all Republicans are white supremacists. 0.92

00:08:42.840 And just out of the blue, and I'm like, Logan, what do you mean? 0.83

00:08:47.100 I mean, this is what he's hearing from the teacher in the school.

00:08:50.660 So I was really shocked.

00:08:53.640 He said, Dad, you know, is there something wrong with me because I'm white?

00:09:00.200 And I was like, why are you saying this?

00:09:03.080 And he started talking about how this teacher was making him feel that there was something fundamentally wrong with him

00:09:11.220 because he was white and that we were bad and that, you know, if you're a Republican, 0.78

00:09:16.540 are you white supremacist? When you hear your son being tortured, essentially, it felt like 0.64

00:09:23.680 us. It's like, gosh, this is awful. The parents taking their concerns to head of the middle

00:09:28.960 school, Todd Balaban, requesting that their son be moved to a different class. Balaban initially

00:09:35.020 saying he would need a day or two to investigate, then reportedly emailing Doug roughly one hour

00:09:40.700 later that he had already examined the matter, quote, in depth. Balaban and the head of school

00:09:46.740 scheduling an in-person meeting with Doug for September 10th, which Doug believed would address

00:09:51.640 his concerns about the classroom. So I went into that meeting thinking, well, I'm going to have a

00:09:57.700 conversation with him about what my son's concerns are. That's what they said to do in the parent

00:10:03.540 school contract. And that's what we were always told to do. And I didn't know it was a secret

00:10:09.880 expulsion meeting that the headmaster was going to pull out our kids' enrollment agreement,

00:10:17.560 wave it in my face, and tell me that we were plotting against the school and that he was

00:10:24.240 expelling our two kids this day, that instant. Neither child was accused of doing anything wrong.

00:10:31.860 The Turpin's 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter reportedly given only hours to clean

00:10:37.220 out their lockers and leave the school they had attended nearly their entire lives.

00:10:42.360 Nicole describing the toll the sudden upheaval took on both kids.

00:10:46.320 I can remember that morning like it was yesterday.

00:10:49.800 Doug called me and he said, Nikki, you need to come down to the school right now.

00:10:55.960 Our children have been expelled and we need to get them immediately.

00:11:00.340 So, of course, I'm in complete shock.

00:11:03.140 our children were being asked to empty their lockers without any explanation and they were

00:11:09.400 led outside by a security guard who didn't speak to them and they were just standing there with

00:11:15.200 bewildered looks on their faces while we drove up to get in the car and they spent the whole way

00:11:21.120 home going mom what's going on i mean have we done something wrong we've done something wrong

00:11:27.220 And we had to tell them when we got home that the only school they'd ever known, they were not welcome back into it.

00:11:34.520 They were not allowed back into it.

00:11:36.480 And all we could do was watch them break down sobbing, and we were just helpless.

00:11:42.060 The Turpins, insisting they followed the school's own process, raised their concerns civilly,

00:11:47.360 and relied on an explicit promise that speaking up would not be used against their children.

00:11:51.720 The family filing a lawsuit in 2022, determined to clear their own name and to hold the school accountable.

00:11:59.320 It was important to go ahead and send a message to the schools that your contracts and your representations and your promises mean something.

00:12:09.420 You can't just expel parents just because they're asking questions.

00:12:14.220 If you can, then think about what that would mean.

00:12:17.240 If somebody is abusing a child or harming a child or just mistreating them, if a parent has to worry that they're going to have their children expelled just because they want to ask the school about that or ask them a question about what they're being taught or raise any kind of concern, we felt like it was important to take a stand.

00:12:40.780 We were fortunate enough to be able to do it, and if we succeeded, that this would deter

00:12:47.100 other schools from behaving this way.

00:12:51.120 The case suffering years of legal setbacks before last month's major reversal.

00:12:57.040 Coming up, why this family's legal fight could protect other parents from seeing their children

00:13:02.160 punished when parents speak up, and what happens next in the Turpin's case.

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00:14:28.280 For nearly five years, Doug and Nicole Turpin fighting to get their case against Charlotte

00:14:33.040 Latin School into a courtroom. Lower courts dismissing most of their claims, finding the

00:14:38.080 Turpins did not properly stake claims upon which relief could be granted. The North Carolina Supreme

00:14:43.780 Court now ruling 5-2 that those courts wrongly decided the case on several of the claims.

00:14:49.340 The majority finding the Turpins did provide enough information for Charlotte Latin to

00:14:53.360 understand the accusations against it, allowing several of the family's causes of action to move

00:14:58.660 forward. The ruling not deciding who is right on the merits, but finally giving the Turpins an

00:15:03.400 opportunity to prove their case. The Turpin's attorney, Jonathan Vogel, telling AM Update the

00:15:08.520 family can now pursue three central allegations. First, that Charlotte Latin breached its enrollment

00:15:14.340 contract by expelling the children for a reason the agreement did not permit. Second, that school

00:15:20.120 leaders deceived the parents by promising they could raise concerns without retaliation,

00:15:25.040 then allegedly disguising an expulsion meeting as a discussion about their son. The court also

00:15:30.940 allowing the Turpins to pursue claims that school officials defamed them during and after the

00:15:36.300 expulsions. The breach of contract fight centering on Charlotte Latin's claim that

00:15:40.520 its relationship with the family had become impossible. The Turpins arguing that explanation

00:15:46.360 was merely a pretext for retaliation. Vogel explaining why he believes the school's own

00:15:52.080 actions undermine its stated reason for expelling the children. If the expulsions were really

00:15:58.920 because Charlotte and believed that the relationship with the Turpins was impossible.

00:16:05.220 Really, sending an email or two, expressing concerns and asking questions about curriculum and culture,

00:16:12.540 being part of a group that, upon invitation from the board of trustees,

00:16:17.460 made a presentation about their questions and concerns.

00:16:20.720 If that really was enough to make the relationship impossible,

00:16:24.000 then the school would have expelled all the children of the parents who were involved

00:16:28.700 in making that presentation, and they would have expelled all the children of the parents

00:16:33.600 over the years that have expressed concerns or have asked questions of a teacher

00:16:38.440 about the curriculum or anything else in the school.

00:16:41.740 Vogel telling us the family can now begin investigating what was happening behind the scenes.

00:16:47.480 We think, frankly, now that we're back in the trial court, we're going to be able to take

00:16:51.360 discovery and get internal documents such as emails, text messages, calendar entries, and

00:16:57.460 take depositions to obtain direct evidence and potential smoking guns of the protectional

00:17:03.860 reason.

00:17:04.760 Vogel explaining where the case goes from here.

00:17:07.240 What happens next is the Supreme Court's decision and mandate makes its way down to the trial

00:17:15.420 court via the Court of Appeals.

00:17:17.420 And at the trial court, we begin again. This case had hardly started at the time that it was

00:17:24.640 dismissed by the trial court four years ago. So we are ready to really get into this case and

00:17:31.340 get into the process of discovery, which enables us to ask questions of the defendants and obtain

00:17:39.640 internal documents and take the deposition, sworn deposition of all of these people. And I'm talking

00:17:46.860 about the head of school, Chuck Baldecki. I'm talking about the head of the middle school,

00:17:50.620 Todd Balaban, the 20-some-odd members of the Board of Trustees, and get at the information

00:17:57.740 and get at the facts that they've been keeping from us for the last four years while we've been

00:18:01.760 up in the appellate courts. Charlotte Latton arguing before the North Carolina Supreme Court

00:18:06.400 that a Turpin victory could weaken the independence private schools need to provide the quality of

00:18:12.700 education expected by families. The school warning it could also invite lawsuits whenever

00:18:18.220 administrators decide their relationship with a family is no longer workable. Vogel rejecting

00:18:23.680 that characterization. This lawsuit was never about and is still not about dictating what a

00:18:31.360 private school must do with respect to its curriculum and culture. There is no legal claim

00:18:36.760 that challenges their curriculum or that challenges their culture as you know as

00:18:43.180 concerning let's say it was with the artwork and the books and the various

00:18:49.720 gender ideology things and lessons as concerning as that is there are no legal

00:18:55.660 claims challenging that if a private school wants to teach that way and wants

00:19:01.180 to have that kind of artwork you know that's their that's their choice to do

00:19:06.140 Nothing challenges the autonomy of the school.

00:19:09.560 Instead, the only claims in this case relate to how the school acted with respect to the parents and the children

00:19:17.560 in ignoring the provisions of its own contract, honoring its own contract with its parents, and treating its parents with respect.

00:19:25.560 The Turpins, who now have their children at other schools, tell us what this ruling means to them and what comes next.

00:19:32.360 It just means so much. It's five years and a lot of time and money there. And we were determined to be able to protect and do our part to protect the families here of North Carolina and strike a blow against this type of mentality that these private schools have, that they can just basically expel your children for any reason at any time if they just want to.

00:20:02.360 all their enforcing ideological conformity in secret. We felt this put kids in dangerous

00:20:09.920 scenarios where if their families couldn't even ask about what was going on, what might happen?

00:20:15.780 It was another kind of a victory for us to be able to say, hey, people, speak up.

00:20:23.720 We reached out to Charlotte Lattin, its current head of school, Chuck Baldecky,

00:20:28.020 its former middle school head, Todd Balaban, and former board chair, Denny O'Leary,

00:20:33.940 for comment and did not receive any response.

00:20:39.160 And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for a brand new MK show

00:20:44.840 today on Labor Day with Andrew Huberman. Live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel,

00:20:50.540 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - September 07, 2026

NC Supreme Court Revives Case After Parents Challenged Woke Insanity, Kids Expelled： AM Update 9⧸7

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