APS plans to replace implicated employees

By Kristina Torres and Jaime Sarrio

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Public Schools employees have begun receiving official notices this week that they have been placed on paid administrative leave after being implicated in an ongoing cheating scandal.

The notices sent out to teachers and others are among the procedural steps the district must take as it begins to sort through each employee's case. It did not go out to everyone, but to those who work 200 days or more on their annual contract.

Superintendent Erroll Davis, who has been adamant that none of the employees will work in front of the district's children again, plans to start termination proceedings as quickly as he can.

A state report released July 5 implicated educators in 44 schools for cheating on state tests. Some APS employees could face criminal charges. More than a half-dozen of Hall's top staff already have lost or left their jobs in the scandal's wake, with more likely to fall. According to district officials, 41 of the 179 educators suspected of cheating have already quit or retired.

With classes starting for the year Aug. 8, Davis said Monday it will be a challenge to replace them but he believed the district could do it. Among those implicated were 38 principals.

"We would like to name the principals as quickly as possible; we also believe we will be able to name those principals from the existing employee workforce," he told school board members.

Community input is normally considered during the principal selection process, but since time is limited, all new appointments will remain on “interim” status until the end of the school year, he said. At the end of the year, their performance will be evaluated and community input will be considered before the selection is made permanent.