Schools

APS to investigate possible fraudulent enrollment at Grady

Records show school's enrollment is higher than anticipated; CINS annual Grady Cluster Principals' Forum set for Wednesday at Morningside Elementary.

After auditing enrollment records throughout the district, Atlanta Public Schools officials have determined that ’s enrollment is higher than anticipated.

And while that may not be of much surprise to parents and stakeholders who continually predicted such throughout the most recent APS redistricting process, APS nonetheless wants to “ensure that students currently attending Grady are there appropriately.”

In a letter dated Aug. 31, 2012 and addressed to Grady parents and guardians, David White, APS Regional K-12 Executive Director for the East Region (formerly SRT3), explained how the district would soon begin “examining all aspects of registration documents, including affidavits.”

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Those providing false information can be "obligated to pay for the costs incurred by the school district; be prosecuted, held criminally liable, and imprisoned for not less than one, nor more than 10 years; or be charged a fine of not more than, $1,0000, or by imprisonment from one to five years."

According to the letter, examples of address fraud are utilizing another person’s address, improperly using a guardianship, or falsifying a document. The district won’t seek penalties against those who go ahead and voluntarily withdraw their child.

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The letter stated, “however, if a fraudulent enrollment is discovered as the result of the investigation, we are prepared to pursue all available legal remedies. Please note that offending parties may be subject to criminal charges and/or costs incurred by the district.”

APS is also requesting assistance from the community with regards to this matter. The out of zone residency fraud email is outofzone@atlanta.k12.ga.us and the anonymous hotline is 404-802-3450 for parents and community members to report “suspected fraudulent enrollments.

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APS has recently formed a task force to provide input and feedback regarding the issues surrounding middle school capacity in the new Grady cluster. APS Superintendent Erroll B. Davis requested that the task force provide him with recommendations for potential long-term solutions to the cluster’s capacity issue at Inman Middle School.

The Inman MS / GHS Capacity Task Force has already met four times and meets every other Tuesday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Inman Media Center. These meetings are open to the public, but there is not time dedicated to public comment. 

The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 4 but it has been cancelled. Therefore, the next meeting will be held on Sept. 18.

Previous meeting minutes and additional info can be found here. If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact one of the three Grady representatives: Sharon Bray (appointed by the Grady LSC) – sharonebray@yahoo.com; Christa Martin (appointed by the Grady PTSA) – mart791@bellsouth.net; Carolyn Wood (appointed by Supt. Davis) – woodwilco@comcast.net.

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The public is invited to join the Council of Intown Neighborhoods and Schools (CINS) as it hosts the first community meeting of 2012-2013 – the annual Grady Cluster Principals’ Forum – on Wednesday, Sept. 5. The noon meeting will take place at Morningside Elementary School, located at 1053 East Rock Springs Road. 

Grady cluster principals will come together to share his/her school’s past achievements, current challenges and goals for the new school year. The special guest will be the aforementioned David White from APS. Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch and learn about education news within the Grady cluster.

CINS is a not-for-profit organization that has worked for more than 34 years to empower public schools in the cluster located in the heart of Atlanta.  CINS’ mission is to work with APS to foster the development of safe, quality education in the Grady cluster of schools. For more information on CINS and its mission, please visit www.cinsatlanta.org.


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