Floyd County Schools (FCS) received two checks this week totalling $1,138,007.06 of returned funds from the ongoing investigation relating to allegations that include several former employees of FCS accused of violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and other crimes. The investigation opened up in October 2014, and has led to the arrests of 13 people including the school system’s former maintenance director.
“The RICO case has caused a lot of unneeded dissension in the county and we’re ready to put it to rest and put it behind us,” said Floyd County Police Department (FCPD) Chief Mark Wallace.
The Floyd County Forfeiture Account, held by the FCPD, returned $637,510.08 of funds. The Receiver, appointed by the Floyd County District Attorney’s Office, returned $500,496.98.
“We’re glad this is coming to an end and we’re more than happy to return the funds to the school system,” said FCPD Major Jeff Jones. “From day one, Chief Wallace and I have said it’s important to get the funds back to the kids, communities, and tax payers of Floyd County.”
FCS Superintendent Dr. John Jackson said he can’t say enough good things about the FCPD for the professional and honorable manner in which they conducted the investigation and worked with FCS to maximize the amount of funds recovered and returned for the education of the children of Floyd County. “The timing couldn’t be better with the security needs of our system and these funds will help with some of those improvements,” he added. “It’s a good day for our students and all of Floyd County!”
“The silver lining in all of this is learning how hard the men and women of our local law enforcement and district attorney’s office work for our community,” said FCS Deputy Superintendent Dr. April Childers. “These are people most of us do not work with on a daily basis, but when you need them, they are there.”
In addition, earlier this year FCS and Johnson Controls announced that they had reached an agreement resolving all disputes between them. The agreed-upon resolution involved a lump-sum cash payment of $2.3 million by Johnson Controls to FCS, a two-year services contract, a preferred JCI service agreement, and a release of any right to funds held by the Floyd County Police Department — resulting in a settlement valued at approximately $2.7 million.