Between 1996 and 2001, Atlanta Public Schools raked in more than $82 million from a federal program designed to help schools and libraries get Internet access and maintain their electronic and telecommunications infrastructure.
But a damning investigation nearly a decade ago, which revealed that APS squandered millions of dollars in the program and led to a three-year jail term on bribery charges for a school official, stopped Atlanta's money flow from the program.
Now, APS officials want the pipeline re-opened.
Since 2001, APS has submitted more than $50 million worth of expenses they believe qualify for "E-rate" reimbursement, to the Universal Services Administrative Company, which administers a $2.25 billion fund to reimburse school and library districts for expenditures associated with Internet infrastructure.
The $50 million was used to make necessary repairs and upgrade equipment but without the reimbursement at the expense of other programs.
Interim APS Superintendent Erroll Davis is now prepared to take direct action by going to Washington, D.C. to lobby the Federal Communications Commission, which oversees USAC.
"The people accused of the crime have gone to jail and done time and now APS can't get funding and that is grossly unfair," said Dave Williamson, APS’ chief information officer. "APS has been in the penalty box way too long. It is time for USAC to take action. Either fund or deny us so we can take the next steps. Right now we are stuck in limbo land."
Williamson said APS annually submits funding requests to USAC and said while the system's financial systems have been audited and employees have been interviewed by investigators, they have not heard anything back on their requests.
Williamson, who has been in his position since 2009, said he has never gotten a clear answer from Washington about why APS is still in the doghouse.
“We are unclear about what is going on," Williamson said. "Their vice president and general counsel were here in May and promised us activity. It is September and we have seen nothing.”
Officials from USAC will not comment on Atlanta's applications publicly, but say APS officials are aware of their issues.
Eric Iversen, a spokesman for USAC, said the organization has been working with APS to “work through the issues that have been part of their applications.”
He said specific problems the agency has with the system will not be made public, although the overarching issue is making sure that plans are in place to make sure any funding is handled correctly.
“Independent of what has happened in the past, we want to make sure they have procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again," Iversen said. "We have no interest in holding the money.”
He added that APS’s recent headline-grabbing cheating scandal has played no role in USAC’s decision-making process.
Congress created the "education rate" -- or E-rate -- in 1996 to help schools and libraries get Internet access. It is funded by a surcharge on interstate and international telephone calls, usually a few dollars a month on phone bills.
The money can be used to pay for computer networking infrastructure -- the electronic plumbing required to route Internet traffic to and from buildings. Some equipment, such as computers, does not qualify for E-rate funding.
In 2004, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that APS misspent or mismanaged nearly $73 million in E-rate funds by spending wildly and building one of the country’s most lavish computer networks for school children. The district spent money without requiring bids for the best price and with little oversight from school board members.
In 2007, Arthur Scott, a former APS official in charge of the E-rate program, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from vendors doing business with the Atlanta school district.
While Atlanta has been shut out, $26 million in E-rate funds have been committed to Georgia schools and libraries in 2011, following an $85 million commitment in 2010.
So far this year, Gwinnett County Schools, for example, have gotten $1.5 million for telecommunication needs.
Williamson said that kind of lack of funding puts APS at a “competitive disadvantage with other school districts,” since they have to pick and choose what to fund or go without. For example, APS has not refurbished computer labs in years.
Williamson said of the $50 million requested over the years, half has gone to pay for telecommunications expenses and the other half was used to purchase network, cable and equipment for schools.
“It just continues to put us at a disadvantage to serving our kids,” Williamson said. “We continue to be behind the eight ball and that is just not right.”
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