The Dougherty County School System has until Friday to prove it's not misspending federal grant money.
The state is investigating dozens of questionable purchases made with Title One grant money. Those purchases include contracts the school board is already investigating.
A June 26th letter from the Department of Education to Superintendent Dr. Joshua Murfree, requests supporting documentation for more than 30 purchases. The items range from food, laptops, to thousand dollar consulting contracts.
The Dougherty County School System has to provide documentation for 34 items paid with Title I, Part A money, totaling a little more than $142,000.
"There's different things we look at when we ask for supporting documentation. And that's just to ensure that the costs are allowable and Title I money can be spent on those items," said Margo DeLaune of the Title Programs Division of the Georgia Department of Education.
The order comes after the Department of Education's Title Programs Division sent an investigation team to Albany in May. They looked into the system's free lunch program, paid for with Title One money, after they received complaints that applications weren't accurate.
"At the time we went out May 24th it was to review free and reduced meal applications and the district at the time was not able to provide us with any information," said DeLaune.
During their visit they randomly sampled other Title I expenditures from last school year. Now, state officials are asking for more information.
"What happens is, if we pull a purchase order and it's not clear to us what it was for, then that's why we ask for supporting documentation," explained DeLaune.
Two of the questioned items are a contract with Darrell Sabbs and Associates to operate a Saturday Academy and a contract with the Joseph Washington Group. Both have already been brought to the board's attention.
"There's a contract for a consultant who is paid $6,000 a day to give speeches, motivational speeches, that's not an allowed expense for Title I," said school board attorney Tommy Coleman. "It certainly is an excessive expenditure for a reason that I can't figure out and not something that we ought to have been doing."
Despite the lengthy list, state officials say their request for supporting documentation is not uncommon.
"Title I is so complicated with the federal rules and the federal compliance no one can be perfect. So you always have some type of questions or possibly some findings each year," said DeLaune.
The Department of Education won't be able to complete their investigation until they receive the supporting documentation they requested by July 13th.
And if the school system fails to provide this documentation, state officials say the system could be put on a high risk list. That means the system could be in danger of losing Title I money. The school system will have to repay the state for any of the expenses that it cannot justify.
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School Board Attorney Tommy Coleman
DCSS Headquarters
The superintendent received this letter from the state
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