State investigators are taking a closer look at Baltimore City Schools’ records, trying to uncover how much money taxpayers have potentially sent to North Avenue to educate students it appears were not there. North Avenue says it won’t discuss these potential ghost students until the investigation is complete, but City Schools has a history of misreporting its enrollment numbers, and a former federal prosecutor says it could be criminal.
Andrea Smith spent 37 years as a federal and state prosecutor in Baltimore. We asked her about students at Augusta Fells Savage Institute in West Baltimore, who appear to have been kept on the roll, even though they were not attending the school.
“It certainly sounds like fraud,” said Smith. “If someone is keeping them on the rolls, that’s fraudulent. That’s theft of taxpayers’ money, that is a crime.”
Augusta Fells is a school in crisis. In summer 2019, its principal and assistant principal were placed on administrative leave as City Schools launched an internal investigation into staff misconduct and grading irregularities.
“The idea that they’d have any incentive to defraud taxpayers to get any money to do a worse job is a travesty,” said Sean Kennedy from the Maryland Public Policy Institute.
Heads should roll and leadership at many levels held accountable!
Remember the ghost cops in New Orleans after Katrina ? Democrats were taking the salaries of over 300 nonexistent cops and stealing it …. nothing is ever done that why all the crooks are in politics
Prime example of Baltimore City and the Unions stealing money from the tax payers. They should be mandated to repay the State and taxes reduced that goes into the Education system since our taxes for education have been raised under false pretenses better known as FRAUD.
All those involved directly or indirectly and approved such fraud should be FIRED WITHOUT ANY BENEFITS, RETIREMENT, HEALTH BENEFITS ETC. Also CHARGED TO THE max.
MD AG should be removed and receive no benefits also since this is just another MAJOR FRAUD against the tax payer that his office has done nothing.
How many more criminal fraud has been committed against the MARYLAND TAX PAYER that his office has done nothing about? No charges. No punishment. This includes the illegal criminal act of ADOLPH HOGAN and his $12 MILLION DOLLAR Korean vaccine expenditure that violated several MD law / regulations / procedures. How much of this $12 million tax dollars was stolen by ADOLPH HOGAN and his wife / associates through kickbacks?
Plus these Ghost Students could use a Ghost Gun to shoot up the school.