N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-413

The State Board of Education is hereby authorized and empowered to settle, compromise or otherwise adjust any indebtedness due it upon the purchase price of any land or property sold by it, or to cancel and surrender the notes, mortgages, trust deeds, or other evidence of indebtedness without payment, when, in the discretion of said Board, it appears that it is proper to do so. The Board of Education is further authorized and empowered to sell or otherwise dispose of any such notes, mortgages, trust deeds, or other evidence of indebtedness.