The investigation into address fraud by players on the Grady football team has continued for more than two and a half months. After APS announced on Dec. 9 that it had launched the investigation after receiving an anonymous letter on Nov. 7 from the parent of a Grady football player. The full investigation is expected to be completed by the first week of March, and the results of the investigation will be released to the Grady community in a series of meetings at Grady on March 5, according to a statement made by Superintendent Erroll Davis on Feb. 25.
In the letter that launched the investigation, obtained by The Southerner through an open records request, the parent claimed that more than 85 percent of the players on the football team should not be attending Grady because they live out of district. Head coach Ronnie Millen Sr. was subsequently removed from his position as head coach on Dec. 9 and transferred. No action was taken against any of the assistant coaches because they do not work for the district.
“Coach Millen [is a] good person and well respected around Grady High School,” senior Jada Luckett said.
The letter also specifically named 20 football players whose families did not live in the district zoned for Grady. The parent claimed these families used false addresses and bogus utility bills to enroll at Grady and that the coaching staff knew about it. According to the letter, Millen and athletic director Kathleen Washington were “allowing the process to continue” and did not report the illegal activity to any authorities.
“The Head Coach and coaching staff supports this process because they want to build a winning team by any means necessary,” the anonymous parent wrote in the letter.
The letter also censured the out-of-district parents for teaching their children bad lessons.
“These parents are committing theft and are showing their children that integrity is not important,” the parent wrote, “and that they should lie and falsify information to get what you want. These children will become adults and think this process is okay.”
The parent asserted that some of the football players who falsified documents live outside of the APS district completely. If this claim is accurate, according to the APS Student Guidebook and Handbook for the 2013-14 school year, out-of-district tuition could be assessed for all semesters the players attended Grady with fraudulent documents. The out-of-district tuition for this year is $10,228.07.
Players who live in the APS district but are not attending their correct zoned school will be withdrawn from Grady and enrolled at the school in their attendance zone. According to the handbook, the parents/guardians may also be referred to the appropriate legal authorities and could be subject to a fine of $1,000 or more, or imprisonment of one to five years. The athletes would also be ineligible to play for one calendar year.
The players, parents and coaches could also face punishments through the Georgia High School Association if found guilty of recruiting or “undue influence.” The anonymous letter accuses the coaches of dropping off some of the players at their out-of-district homes. According to GHSA bylaw 1.71-2, free transportation and tuition can serve as evidence of undue influence. Bylaw 1.71-4, however, outlines the process by which school officials could defend themselves: “A school will be afforded an opportunity to demonstrate it could not reasonably be expected to be responsible for the actions of a booster who is found to have violated the recruiting/undue influence rules.”
GHSA rules also state that each school must submit an eligibility form for each athlete, verifying his or her residence in the school’s district. Traditionally, the athletic director is in charge of verifying athletes.
The varsity football team finished this season with an 8-3 record after losing in the first round of the playoffs. GHSA could nullify the team’s wins if the coaching staff is found guilty of athletic recruiting. It is also conceivable that universities and colleges could rescind any scholarships afforded to players found to have falsified their addresses.
APS manager of public relations and special events, Kimberly Green, said the investigation is being conducted by the Office of Student Relations and the Office of Employee Relations. As part of the investigation, Green said, the district is conducting interviews, researching public records and verifying addresses.
Almost two weeks after the investigation was announced, on Dec. 20, APS Superintendent Erroll Davis made a follow-up statement to the media about the investigation. Davis said after interviewing the majority of the parents and guardians of players on the football team, APS has found “conclusive evidence” of address fraud. The investigation found falsified enrollment affidavits and discovered that some students used the same home address on paperwork filed in the school system.
“Integrity is paramount, and we want to send a message that false affidavits have academic, personnel, financial and legal consequences that are simply not worth it,” Davis said.
Davis also discussed the punishments the players and their families could undergo, which were consistent with the aforementioned APS policies.
Rhonda Morgan, a parent of a Grady football player, said she was on the list of out-of-district parents but that the claim is incorrect because she lives in the Grady district. No other parents have told The Southerner that they were falsely accused of address fraud.
A group of parents, students and community members has been growing in support of Millen over the past few weeks. A petition was created urging Grady and the administration to return Millen to his previous position as head coach. The petition page does not mention whether there are in fact football players living out of district but does defend the coaching staff by arguing that verifying residency requirements is the responsibility of the administration and not the coaches.
“We know that Coach Ronnie Millen teaches and coaches his students and players to follow and obey all laws, rules and policies of the Atlanta Public Schools,” the petition reads.
As of Feb. 18, the petition had received 338 signatures.
Some of Millen’s supporters, including two former Grady football coaches, a former Inman Middle School principal, community members and parents, also wrote letters in support of Millen’s return, which were posted on the petition site.
“I have on occasion heard Coach [Millen] tell parents that he could not talk to them about their sons coming to Grady High School to play football,” Michael Walker, the athletic director at B.E.S.T. Academy, wrote. “Coach Millen would inform the parents of the GHSA rules as well as the APS policy on residency.”
Many supporters also posted brief testimonials on the petition page, which include statements like, “Flawed system, not a flawed coach,” and “Coach Millen was the best coach ever.” Some were even more direct like this post: “Coach Ronnie Millen did no recruiting.”
The administration hired interim head coach and physical education teacher Lee Hannah on Jan. 22. Hannah previously served as the defensive coordinator at Mays High School and said he is looking to continue the strong program that Millen has worked to build. Hannah told The Southerner he has a “strong chance” of staying at Grady next year but that the duration of his stay is indefinite and based on the results of the investigation.
