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EDUCATION
City to Pay $1.7 Million to Settle Grant Charge
The District has agreed to pay $1.7 million to the U.S. government to settle charges that it received federal funds for educating migrant children when none were enrolled in its public schools, the U.S. attorney's office announced yesterday.
A 2005 audit ordered by the U.S. Department of Education showed that none of the children in the District's 2003 count were eligible for funding under the agency's Migrant Education Program, designed to assist children of families seasonally employed in agriculture or fishing. Subsequent investigation revealed that the D.C. school system submitted false documentation of its migratory child count dating back to 2001.
The District's use of federal education money has come under sharp scrutiny in the past two years. The Department of Education placed the District on "high risk" status as a grant recipient in 2006 because of its history of poorly accounting on funds. State Superintendent Deborah A. Gist and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee have been working with federal officials on reforms.
-- Bill Turque
EMBEZZLEMENT CASE
23-Year Police Veteran Pleads Guilty to Theft
A longtime D.C. police officer admitted in federal court yesterday that she embezzled more than $175,000 from the department by falsely claiming she worked overtime to catch speeders.
Karin Coppens, a 23-year officer, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to theft from a program that receives federal funds, according to the U.S. attorney's office. She could face up to 10 years in prison at her sentencing in December.
Coppens admitted that she filed fake weekly overtime sheets claiming she worked 3,400 overtime hours on the department's photo radar program. Coppens -- who was charged in U.S. District Court because the photo radar program receives federal funds -- never performed any such duties.
She forged signatures on more than 94 time sheets from 2004 through June of this year to illegally obtain $178,611, prosecutors said.
