A nonprofit watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint against the Clayton County schools superintendent, alleging he misused public money when he ordered the district to spend $80,000 to reprint high school diplomas with his name on them.

On Monday, the Ethics in Government Group asked the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which oversees teacher certification, to investigate superintendent John Thompson.

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Herff Jones, the printing company, has since agreed to waive the printing fees. The district will still have to pay about $1,300 to mail the diplomas, district spokesman Charles White said.

"Superintendent Thompson "placed his own self-interest over and above the decision-making for the public good," wrote George Anderson, executive director of the Rome-based watchdog group.

Cassandra Moore, of the professional standards commission, said the state has no jurisdiction over Thompson because he has not received his certification to teach in Georgia. She said the commission likely will not take any action until Thompson completes his certification application.

The state requires all public school employees to be certified, which includes obtaining a college degree and passing the teaching exam and a background check. Thompson is exempt from the exam because he holds teaching certificates in other states, White said.

Thompson, who started April 28, said the diplomas were invalid because they were signed by former superintendent Gloria Duncan and former board chairwoman Ericka Davis. "I took the initiative and I did it," Thompson told the school board Monday. "This a memento for them to hang on the wall forever."

The state Department of Education does not require a superintendent's name to be on a diploma, just the school seal indicating whether a student took college preparatory or technical courses, education department spokesman Dana Tofig said Tuesday.

Thompson declined to comment on Tuesday, saying he has "repeatedly responded publicly to each of the allegations listed, refuting each."

Thompson's decision resulted in students having to wait several weeks to receive their diplomas. After complaints, Thompson has offered to give graduates what he calls the "invalid" diploma. Students must get a letter from their principal and then pick up the old diploma at Thompson's office.

On Friday, Thompson and school officials said the diplomas were destroyed. On Monday, Thompson said the diplomas remain in boxes in school offices. School employees said they started shredding the diplomas Friday, but Thompson ordered them to stop after receiving calls from media.