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.
2 former Alabama school superintendents among 6 indicted
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Federal Grand Jury in Montgomery Indicts Two Former North Alabama School Superintendents
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By The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Two former north Alabama school superintendents are among six people facing charges including conspiracy, fraud and identity theft in an alleged scheme to illegally boost school funding, court documents unsealed Tuesday show.
Former Athens school Superintendent Trey Holladay and former Limestone County Superintendent Tom Sisk were indicted by a federal grand jury in Montgomery, court records showed. So was Holladay’s wife, retired Athens teacher Deborah Irby Holladay.
The other three who were charged include former Athens High principal William Richard Carter Jr., who also oversaw virtual learning programs for the system; former Marengo Academy football coach David Webb Tutt; and Gregory Earl “Greg” Corkren, a retired teacher. Both Tutt and Corkren were identified as longtime friends of Holladay.