Six school officials in Alabama have been indicted over a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in state education funding by pretending to enroll private students into virtual schools.
Federal prosecutors say educators in Athens City Schools and Limestone County Schools stole the identities of hundreds of private students and falsified enrollment records to make it appear as though the children were full-time attendees of virtual schools throughout the state.
By allegedly doctoring the records, the conspirators were able to obtain $7 million in state education funding for the 2016–17 and 2017–18 academic years. Private schools persuaded to take part in the conspiracy by sharing their students data were rewarded with laptops and access to online courses.
Six former Alabama educators are facing dozens of conspiracy, identity theft and fraud charges in a wide-reaching federal probe into enrollment practices at virtual schools in the state.
Federal investigators say three former north Alabama educators conspired to fraudulently inflate enrollment data at virtual schools within their districts, triggering larger reimbursements from state education funds they then personally skimmed off.
Former Athens City Schools (ACS) Superintendent Trey Holladay and former Limestone County Superintendent Tom Sisk were both indicted, along with Deborah Irby Holladay, Trey Holladay s wife and a retired Athens teacher.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said the trio padded virtual school enrollment numbers with student data drawn from private schools in the Black Belt. The administrators claimed the students were receiving virtual instruction while remaining enrolled in their home schools and districts.