The Board of the Atlanta Public Schools got an update Monday about complaints it investigated that the system was not complying with regulations on Title I grants. Those grants pay for programs in schools that have high percentages of low-income students.
There was some good news and bad news.
The good news is money paid back to the Georgia Department of Education because of noncompliance has fallen dramatically over the past four school years. The bad news is it has had to pay some money back each of those years because of being out of compliance.
The system paid back $2.6 million in the 2010-11 school year; $696,000 in 2011-12; $175,000 in 2012-13; and $51,000 in 2013-14.
Compliance issues ranged from educators not properly entering their time working on grant-related programs to one complaint that money had been used to create a holiday cookbook, which investigators were not able to substantiate.
