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A statement Tuesday from The Friends of Oak Ridge Military Academy has raised questions about the future of Col. Roy Berwick, president of the financially troubled private school.
 

The uncertainty in leadership comes after the mass resignation of the academy’s board of trustees last week and the school’s failure to pay off a note due July 1.
 

The friends group said in an e-mail Tuesday that Reginald W. Ponder, president emeritus of Louisburg College, will “serve as the managing consultant until such time as an interim administrator is secured.”
 

The e-mail did not mention Berwick or his future at the academy. Efforts to reach him for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
 

“The status of Col. Berwick is unclear,” Ponder said from his home in Raleigh. “There is no official person to speak for the (school.)”
 

The academy’s 12-member board resigned Friday after electing a new board. Ponder said he has been trying to reach those elected to convince them to serve or to serve until a replacement can be found.
 

“I am running as fast as I  can to try to make this happen before the end of this week,” Ponder said. “At that time, the board of trustees will determine what the next steps are. They will choose somebody to do the administration. If it is Col. Berwick or if it is somebody else, they will make that call.”
 

Some members of the new board met Monday, but there was not a quorum present. The purpose of the meeting, according to Tuesday’s release, was to organize the new board.
 

In a statement Friday, the academy said the new board would be made up of friends and supporters called “The Friends of Oak Ridge Military Academy.”
 

Members of that group have not been identified.
 

“The Friends of Oak Ridge Military Academy are committed to seeing that (the school) continues to operate and fulfill its mission,” Tuesday’s e-mail said.
 

On Friday, the academy announced that fall classes are scheduled to begin Aug. 24.
 

“We defer all comments until the new board of trustees has had time to prepare and to formulate their plan of action,” the academy said in a statement after Friday’s action. “We believe this is a positive step in the right direction for the long-term stability of Oak Ridge Military Academy.”
 

The school, which owes $4.8 million on an academic building opened in 2001, has suffered through a tumultuous year marked by declines in enrollment and giving.
 

In April, about 45 faculty and staff agreed to relinquish about five weeks of salary to keep the school going.
 

Ponder, who retired from Louisburg in 2007, said he could provide few details about the missed note payment.
 

“It is my understanding there was a note due and payable on July 1 that the school was unable to pay,” Ponder said. “The board met on July 7 and 10. That is when they resigned. They were facing challenges for which there were difficult answers.”
 

Ponder said he did not know the amount of the note or to whom it was payable.
 

The recent developments have left alumni and staff with mixed emotions.
 

“Most alumni I have spoken with are very happy that it appears that ORMA will continue,” Chip Cook, a 1994 graduate, said in an e-mail. “What is of concern is that the 'new board’ has not disclosed who they are, what their plans are to prepare for the August start of school, whether teachers and staff would be paid for their sacrifice of salary and whether employees, including Col. Berwick, will be rehired for the next school year. ... This type of management does not help the school.”

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com