More mounting legal fees in DeKalb schools

Written By: Daniel Beauregard
9/20/12
Categorized in: DeKalb News, Education

DeKalb Schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson told a DeKalb County grand jury that the school district, due to pending litigation, will be spending $6 million more than anticipated this year.

Last year, Atkinson told the grand jury that the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) accrued legal fees in excess of $3 million over its budget. She told jurors that the budget for the 2012-13 school year will need to be adjusted.

Currently, the district employs two legal teams and is involved in a lawsuit with construction firm Heery International, which has cost the district more than $30 million to date. The trial is expected to begin in February.

Heery first filed suit against DCSD, alleging the district owed the company outstanding invoices from when it managed the SPLOST construction projects from 1997-2006. DCSD then countersued for $100 million, alleging fraud and mismanagement during the period Heery managed construction projects. The lawsuit was filed in 2007.

“A lot of that additional anticipated expense is for the upcoming jury trial with Heery International but it has been added as a line item into the budget,” said Jeff Dickerson, a spokesman for DeKalb schools.

By state law, a balanced budget is due Sept. 30 and Dickerson said the district will meet that deadline. However, he said when Atkinson was going over the budget she found that in previous years, officials weren’t budgeting based on past expenses, which is the cause of the additional $3 million last year and the $6 million for the coming year.

“We don’t know that it’s going to be that high but if it is we’ll have a budgeted line item for it,” Dickerson said of the expenses for the looming trial.

Some contend one of the reasons the civil case involving the district and Heery International has yet to be tried in court is because officials are waiting for the outcome of the criminal trial involving former Superintendent Crawford Lewis, former Chief Operating Officer Patricia Reid and her ex-husband Tony Pope.

All three have been charged with running a criminal enterprise within the school system. Lewis has been charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), theft by taking by a government employee and bribery. Pope and Reid face similar charges.

In 2010, a grand jury returned an indictment alleging Lewis, former schools construction chief Reid and her ex-husband Pope conspired to defraud the school district of approximately $2.4 million through illegal construction contracts.

Reid allegedly used her role as the district’s construction chief to award contracts to then husband Pope. According to officials and court documents, Lewis signed off on contracts and knowingly participated in the conspiracy.

The trial was scheduled to begin mid-September but officials from the District Attorney’s Office said it has been pushed backed for several more weeks.

Comments (5)

Hailey

Said this on 10/4/12 At 10:05 am

Time for me to get a second job and start saving for private school for when my child reaches school age.

Houton

Said this on 9/26/12 At 08:32 am

Crawford Lewis.......now that's a forgotten name from the past. Would like to see the Champion do a feature story on where he is now and what he is doing.

And, yes, the current superintendent can do without a food allowance. But, then, again, when practically all the students are getting over on the system to get a free lunch, what does one expect.

Frank Candor

Said this on 9/25/12 At 08:33 am

I just read in the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the Dekalb County School Board just approved a pay raise for their top executives in the system--those individuals whose mean salaries are $105,000.00... How can this be??? Then, to read in last week's AJC that 8 Dekalb school administrators are pursing doctoral degrees at Mercer University and the County is opting to use "Race to the Top" grant money that was initially alloted---or so teachers across the county were told---for more teacher resources(ie. paper, dry erase markers, tape, etc.) and for more after-school tutoring for students who needed/need to be remediated... Three hundred forty-five thousand dollars($345,000.00) is what Dekalb County School System is spending on 8 people...... Wonder how many students we could have helped if those at the "top" could have invested in what is supposed to be the best stock: our children. How long will this egregious misappropriation of monies continue?? How long will the Dekalb County tax payers continue to be usurped??

Lawlerskates

Said this on 9/21/12 At 09:36 am

I think that the superintendent can take a pay cut.....she was on tv the other day stating that she's going to be cutting pay (never mentioning her own pay, but the teachers.) THAT is the wrong way to go about it any way you slice it. I'm pretty sure she can do without a half a million dollars a year +food allowance, etc. The teachers can't afford a pay cut, SHE CAN. That's what frustrates me the most. Mismanagement of funds is completely on her lap, it should never affect the teacher's pay because they don't get paid enough to begin with.

Rae Anne

Said this on 9/20/12 At 09:58 pm

....and still people think we don't need change??? Parents, get the facts and vote YES for choice on November 6th! I am tired of being #49.

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