School workers fired for stealing equipment

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Five Clayton County school employees were fired after they were caught stealing school equipment and selling it to scrap yards, school officials said.

The school system investigated the thefts internally and did not involve police. School officials are still deciding if they will file charges against the employees, district spokesman Charles White said Friday.

“The administration at the maintenance site conducted an investigation over time to observe the situation and made the determination that something improper was going on,” White said.

Police said the employees could face theft by taking charges.

“These employees were taking the salvage items out of the truck and taking them to a recycling site, and pocketing the money for themselves,” White said.

White said he did not know how long the thefts had been going on nor how much money was taken.

The district began investigating the employees after noticing equipment missing from the district’s maintenance facility on Stockbridge Road in Jonesboro, White said.

All of the equipment was slated for the salvage yard, but the money was supposed to go back into the school system, White said.

“We do everything we can to get as much benefit for the district,” he said.

The maintenance facility includes lawnmowers, trailers, vehicles and other metal items that need repairs. Once workers determined they can’t be fixed, the items are placed into a trailer. They then will be taken to a salvage yard or advertised online so the district can get the best profit.

The employees had been raiding the trailer and selling the items for their own profit, White said.

School officials are now reviewing procedures at the maintenance site to make sure there is a greater level of accountability in how items are processed, White said.

School board chairwoman Alieka Anderson said she was unaware of the terminations and could not comment.

The employees were terminated while the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is conducting a review of the school system to determine if it can keep its probationary accreditation.

Last year, Clayton became the first school system in the nation to lose accreditation in 40 years after investigators found a pattern of unethical behavior -- including micromanaging, misuse of funds and abuse of power -- by board members.

In May, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools restored the district’s accreditation and placed it on probation for two years.

The probationary period requires the school system to show continuous progress and be re-evaluated every six months, SACS president and chief executive officer Mark A Elgart said.