FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has obtained documents showing Fulton County’s District Attorney was critical of school police in their handling of an investigation into a veteran principal who is now planning to sue the district for ruining his reputation.
School police issued warrants for the arrest of Eddie Echols in 2012 after an audit raised questions about how he was using a school-issued credit card.
In the letter, addressed to Fulton County school police chief Felipe Usury, Paul Howard advised that his office was not going to prosecute Echols on several charges, including theft by taking and identity fraud.
“My office has determined that the financial activities of former principal Edward Echols do not rise to the level of criminal conduct,” Howard wrote in the April 2014 letter.
Howard pointed out that Echols legitimately thought he was authorized to open a school credit card after obtaining permission from a school auditor. Howard also concluded that Echols did not intend to deprive the school of its funds.
“(He) reimbursed the school for his personal expenses on a regular basis and in a timely manner,” Howard concluded.
Howard expressed concern about the “limited” scope of the school police investigation before issuing arrest warrants.
“This office and the Public Integrity Unit take the prosecution of school-based employee theft very seriously. However, it is tantamount that thorough investigations be conducted at all levels and that requested arrest warrants reflect the evidence in the case,” Howard wrote.
In 2011, Channel 2's Mike Petchenik first reported that Riverwood International Charter School principal Eddie Echols resigned his job after an audit alleged he had misused a school credit card for personal purchases, including a rehearsal dinner and to take his wife to a work-related conference.
“We used that quite regularly,” Echols told Petchenik Monday about the American Express he opened for the school. “It was set up as an extension of the school account.”
Echols said he received permission from a school auditor to open the account for school-related purchases.
“Traffic cones, TVs for the media center, departmental supplies, just things strictly related to instruction,” he said.
Echols said he also used the card for expenses related to work conferences, such as car rentals and meals, and if anything was considered “questionable,” he reimbursed the school immediately.
“All the receipts, all the expenses and everything were right there through the bookkeeper, so there was never a question, never intent to be used anywhere other than where things could be seen,” he said.
Echols said when he learned of an internal audit looking into the expenses, he reached out to Fulton County school leadership to meet with them and explain the credit card charges.
“I was never given the opportunity to do that,” he said.
In September 2011, he said superintendent Robert Avossa and Human Resources director Ron Wade pulled him in for a meeting.
“That meeting they told me I had the option to resign or face a hearing,” he said. “At that point I made the personal decision to resign …I just felt personally it was the best thing to do for me and my family. Not because of any wrongdoing at all. There was no wrongdoing.”
Echols said he was led to believe the school system would let him continue his education career elsewhere, and was caught off guard the following February when he learned they were pressing felony charges against him.
“I had earnestly just tried to pick up my life and go, and when I got the call it was very tough,” he said. “I thought it was absurd. It was devastating to me.”
In December 2013, Echols said he was dealt another blow, when he learned the district had reported the charges to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission before the case had been adjudicated. He said the PSC revoked his teaching license, and it wasn’t until last September that he was allowed to reapply for it.
The veteran educator has found work at a private school, but told Petchenik he plans to sue Fulton County Schools for ruining his reputation and taking away his livelihood.
“Minimum would be recoup of lost salary that I would have obtained over the course of my career, not to mention lost retirement,” he said. “Not to mention my reputation with my community, which has been in some ways much more devastating than anything else.”
Attorney Nicole Jones is representing Echols. She said what happened to him is indicative of how Fulton County Schools has treated its employees.
“It’s a continuation of them trumping up things that may happen,” she said. “It’s the same thing from the police officers down to the teachers. It’s a continuation of Fulton County just covering up stuff.”
Petchenik has learned Echols plans to join forces with the former assistant principal of Hopewell Middle School, Joey Robinson, who was forced to resign and is now seeking compensation from the district for alleged defamation.
A spokeswoman for Fulton County Schools told Petchenik even though criminal charges were dropped, the district believes Echols violated credit card policies.
Samantha Evans had no comment on the impending lawsuit, as the district typically doesn’t comment on pending litigation.