Earlier this month, Atlanta Public Schools took action on the findings of an investigation involving the district’s Director of Purchasing and Supply Services.
 
As part of APS’s ongoing commitment to identify and eliminate unethical practices, the district restructured its Office of Internal Compliance at the start of the 2016-2017 school year.  While conducting a proactive vendor/employee relationship review, the newly established OIC identified a list of employees who were also registered as vendors with the district.
 
As part of this review, the OIC determined that APS has been doing business with a company that is owned and operated by an APS employee. AndThenSome, which is owned and operated by the district’s Director of Purchasing and Supply Services, Mr. Randall Sellers, was managing the Bethune Elementary School parking lot during special events at or near the Georgia Dome for over two years. Further, it recently began providing and managing event workers for district athletic events. Since July 2015, ATS has received approximately $125,849 in payments from the district.
 
The Atlanta Board of Education’s Conflict of Interest Policy clearly prohibits employees from doing business directly with the district.  Given the violation of this policy, APS is no longer using the services of AndThenSome and Mr. Sellers is no longer employed with the district.
 
“Atlanta Public Schools has zero tolerance for ethics violations and has an expectation that every employee will adhere to the highest standards of ethics and accountability,” said APS Superintendent, Meria J. Carstarphen. “We will always act swiftly and without hesitation in the case of any such policy violation,” said Carstarphen.
 
As the district continues to investigate the history of this vendor/employee violation and which other employees may be involved, it has also launched a more extensive review of potential purchasing violations. Upon completion, the investigation will be made available to the public.