An Atlanta high school registrar was fired after an internal investigation into stolen notary fees was completed, the school district said.
Albert Thomas was fired after Atlanta Public Schools determined he mishandled cash that students used to pay $3 notarizing fees, Channel 2 Action News reported. The district charges the fee to sign a document that students need to get driver’s licenses, but Thomas was accused of pocketing the cash.
Thomas was placed on administrative leave in May after a North Atlanta High School student’s mother complained to school officials about being charged the fee, AJC.com previously reported.
RELATED: High school registrar placed on leave amid allegations he pocketed fees
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Leilani Collier told Channel 2 she could get her daughter’s form notarized for free through the bank, but the school “made it seem as if we had to get it notarized through the school — through the school’s administrator.”
She said Thomas had been charging students the cash-only fee for years, keeping the cash for himself. Thomas’ salary for 2018 was $73,432.08, according to state records.
“It’s the principle,” Collier said. “I don’t really care about the $3, but if the registrar is pocketing the $3, that’s what I have a problem with.”
In a previous statement, APS said the “notary fee is a legitimate fee ... what APS is investigating is an allegation of improper cash receipts and accounting procedures by a school employee in light of our ethics and school budgeting policies.”
Thomas’ attorney told Channel 2 that his client was given permission in 2014 to keep the fees, but the district said all employees were told the following year that they could not pocket the fees. The attorney said Thomas refutes that he was ever told about the policy change.
A records clerk at the high school also resigned as a result of the internal investigation, the news station reported.
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