A winning Atlanta football coach failed to follow district rules about spending and collecting school funds, leaving thousands of public dollars unaccounted for, an Atlanta Public Schools lawyer said today during an employment hearing for Mays High School head football coach Corey Jarvis.
The school district is trying to fire Jarvis, who is on paid leave.
The district investigation of Jarvis led to clashes between supporters who saw Jarvis as a role model for male students and the savior of the football program, and critics who thought he shouldn’t be working with students.
Jarvis "ignored the rules and decided to handle things his way," said Kwame Townes, a lawyer for the district. "But for a complaint from a parent, Mr. Jarvis may well have continued to handle things his way."
Auditors found more than $4,000 missing from the football program’s account, Townes said. And documents Jarvis provided to auditors to explain the missing money raised questions about how thousands more were spent.
In total, more than $10,000 belonging to the football program was unaccounted for, according to a district audit.
Jarvis also engaged in aggressive confrontations just short of fistfights with a parent and a school visitor, district investigators found.
Jarvis had a 19-year history of success as a coach, his lawyer Antavius Weems said. Jarvis could have received a warning, “not you’re out because you did something wrong.”
Jarvis signed an agreement outlining his financial responsibilities as coach.
But in response to questions from Weems, Mays bookkeeper Arechelliam Womble testified she did not sit down with Jarvis to review the district’s full financial policy manual. She said too she did not require coaches and other staff who supervise student activities to bring receipt books when they make deposits.
“To be honest, I don’t do that,” she said. “I don’t have the time.”
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