To Ensure Full Transparency and Accuracy to our Students, our Staff, our Taxpayers and Residents, Below are the Two Official Statements APS Released to the Media Regarding the Most Recent Go Bond Lawsuit Filed by the City of Atlanta

Issued Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 5:00 pm

“The City’s statement that Atlanta Public Schools (“APS”) has refused to come to the table is inaccurate.  APS has tried time and again, over two different mayoral administrations, to resolve issues relating to the GO bonds.  On April 25th, representatives from the Departments of Finance for the City and APS, together with counsel, met to discuss the issue.  At that meeting, APS requested that the City provide APS with documents and information that would enable APS to evaluate  the City’s contention that APS owes certain amounts to the City in connection with the GO bonds.” 

“Most recently, on June 21st, APS renewed its request for this information and served an Open Records Act request on the City.  The City has indicated it will provide the documents to APS by July 12, 2019.  The GO bond issue is unrelated to the TAD intergovernmental agreement negotiations, although the City has attempted to link the two.  The Superintendent reached out directly to the Mayor on June 14th and again on June 19th requesting a meeting to resolve the TAD and any other related issues but received no response from the Mayor’s office.”

About Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 52,000 students across 89 schools. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 61 neighborhood schools, five partner schools, 18 charter schools, two citywide single-gender academies, three alternative schools and four alternative programs.

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Issued Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 10:00 am

“APS has learned that the City of Atlanta has filed suit demanding payment related to general obligation bonds.  APS has not yet been served with a copy of the City’s filed complaint.  As background, we have previously been in talks with the City about the issue to understand it from their perspective but to date the City has provided us no information that shows that APS owes the City for these bonds. Moving forward, as this is now a litigation matter, APS will not comment any further.”

“Please note, however, that while this new lawsuit regarding the Go Bonds is not related to the Gulch development or the intergovernmental agreement reached between APS and the City in January of 2019, the City still has not made the $10 million payment to APS required under that agreement. APS continues to do what’s best for our 50,000 students, 6,000 employees, and 158,000 taxpayers in support of our city’s future.”

About Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 52,000 students across 89 schools. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 61 neighborhood schools, five partner schools, 18 charter schools, two citywide single-gender academies, three alternative schools and four alternative programs.

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