A director and alumnus of the Milton Hershey School claims he had to sue the institution, America’s wealthiest private school, to find out where its money goes, Spotlight PA, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and ProPublica report.

For over a year, lawyer Bob Heist, then-chairman of the Milton Hershey School’s board, says he sought internal financial records detailing the spending history of the $17 billion charity, which has a mission to educate low-income students for free.

He now says he is being denied records he needs as a board member charged with overseeing the Pennsylvania boarding school’s operations. (The school says it has provided Heist with “extensive financial information and will continue to respond to any reasonable requests in his capacity as a board member.”) 

Earlier this month, Heist took his push for access to court, filing suit against the school — an extremely unusual step for a sitting board member, taken against an extremely unusual institution.

THE CONTEXT: The Milton Hershey School controls 80% of the Hershey Co. candy giant’s voting shares and reaps profits from the sale of Hershey chocolate bars, Reese’s peanut butter cups, and SkinnyPop-brand snacks sold in thousand of U.S. retail stores.

Two previous financial controversies raised questions about whether the school’s spending was serving the needs of its roughly 2,100 students, as required by law and enforced by the state attorney general’s office.

Heist's suit also raises new questions about board oversight of the vast Milton Hershey fortune, donated by the candy company’s founder to help poor and at-risk children. 

For months, Spotlight PA, The Inquirer, and ProPublica have investigated this and other issues, including whether school leaders and board members have fulfilled that mission to a degree commensurate with the charity’s vast resources. The publications will share their findings in upcoming stories.

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