Schools

Georgia Businesswoman Indicted for Allegedly Bribing a Former WCPS Administrator

Former Walton County Public School Superintendent Harvey Franklin pleaded guilty in August to receiving $47,000 in kickbacks and bribes during his tenure as superintendent of schools in Greenville, Miss.

According to NorthJersey.com, Edna Goble, of Conyers, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 21, 2012 in connection to bribes she allegedly paid to Harvey Franklin during his tenure as superintendent of schools in Greenville, Miss. Franklin took the position in Mississippi in 2009 after leaving Walton County Public Schools where he served as assistant superintendent.

A release on the Justice Department website reads in part:

Edna Goble, 66, of Conyers, Georgia, was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury for the Northern District of Mississippi for paying bribes to Harvey Franklin, the former superintendent of the Greenville, Mississippi Public School District.

Goble faces ten counts that charge her with providing things of value to Franklin in return for a consulting contract with the Greenville Public School District.  If convicted, Goble will face up to 95 years in prison and $2,500,000 in fines.

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Goble is currently out on bond. NorthJersey.com also reports that Franklin entered a guilty plea in August last year to overpaying Goble and receiving more than $47,000 in bribes and kickbacks during his tenure with Greenville Public Schools. He has not been sentenced, but is reported to have agreed to forfeit his house and truck. Northjersey.com reports that the charges to which Franklin pleaded guilty carry up to $750,000 in fines and a 25-year prison sentence.

officials confirmed that they had been approached by federal investigators to give information about the "Early Detection, Necessary Action," or EDNA, reading program used at one time in the school system. The program had been introduced by Franklin, who reportedly took the reading program with him when he joined the Greenville Public School System.

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Kim Embry, spokesperson for WCPS, confirmed that during Franklin's tenure with WCPS, a total of $1,675,433.60 was spent on the program.

"WCPS used the EDNA reading program in Title I elementary schools from 2002 to 2009 as a tool to improve reading comprehension," Embry said at the time, going on to confirm that the program was cut from WCPS during the 2009-2010 school year. She said the school system had been requested to give information on the program by federal investigators, but not specifically on Franklin during his tenure with WCPS.

Further reading:

  • Former Walton County Assistant Superintendent Under Investigation
  • WCPS Spent almost $1.7 million on Reading Program Now Under Investigation


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