Former school officials sentencing postponed after more than $5M agreement
Published 4:45 pm Monday, June 27, 2022
Sentencing for former Athens City and Limestone County Schools officials and their associates has been postponed.
William Lee “Trey” Holladay, III, William Richard “Rick” Carter, Jr., Gregory Earl Corkren, Thomas Michael Sisk and David Webb Tutt all agreed to restitution payments to the Alabama Department of Education on June 23. The News Courier previously reported on the repayment plan, but Carter had not agreed at the time.
As of last Thursday, Holladay, Carter, Corkren and Tutt all signed the agreement. Sisk is not required to make any payments and was not a part of the agreement.
“The parties specifically agree that Defendant Thomas Michael Sisk did not contribute to those losses and therefore should not be liable for paying restitution,” according to the document.
The News Courier previously reported that court documents said even though former Limestone Superintendent Sisk caused LCS to fraudulently report the number of students enrolled to the ALSDE there were no payments made based on those reports and thus, no loss.
The total restitution the group will repay ALSDE will be $5,731,897.20 split among them depending on the school year.
Holladay, former Athens City Schools superintendent, will pay 50 percent for both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school year for a total of $2,865,948.60.
Carter, former Athens High School principal, will pay 25 percent for 2016-2017 and 20 percent for 2017-2018 for a total of $1,303,514.28.
Corkren, a former educator who formed an LLC to aid the administration, will pay the same 25 and 20 split.
Tutt, another former educator who aided the administration, will pay 10 percent for the 2017-2018 school year for a total of $258,920.04.
Their agreement does not release them from any payments that they could be obligated to from civil litigation.
On Monday, June 27, Judge Myron Thompson postponed the sentencing that was set for Tuesday. A separate order will be issued with an updated date.