Summer instructional program teachers in Atlanta say they haven’t been paid

ATLANTA — Teachers in a summer instructional program for hundreds of elementary-age students tell Channel 2 Action News they haven’t been paid, and they contend Atlanta Public Schools is at least partly to blame. The STEM-focused program was managed by a nonprofit called ARTportunity Knocks (AK), which used three APS facilities and says it received at least some of its funding from APS. ARTportunity also claims an unidentified state agency was providing money, and that both the school district and that state agency are holding up funding. Teachers just know they haven’t been paid.

Channel 2 asked teacher Ronni Amos if ARTportunity has given a date for payment for the last half of the monthlong course. “Not at all,” Amos said. “No such correspondence has taken place,” echoed her teaching colleague, Julius Richards.

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We met the two teachers in front of Harper-Archer Elementary on Collier Drive, one of three APS schools used for the four-week instructional program overseen by AK.

Frustrated by no paycheck and insufficient answers from AK and APS, Amos told Channel 2 she called the school district. “One person left me a message by the name of Joy Jordan. She did leave a message. I called her back. I couldn’t get any word from her yet,” Amos says.

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ARTportunity is definitely pointing the finger elsewhere. AK emailed staff July 1 citing “funding delays from APS.”

A July 8 email to staff cite “the delay of funding ... from the state and school district.” That same email added, “The State Accounting Office and School District ... notified us today that our funding is currently processing.” The email did not identify the purported state agency involved in funding the summer program.

Channel 2 visited the address on Greenbrier Parkway listed on AK’s emails. We asked the person who opened the door of a large church at that location, “ARTportunity Knocks, does that ring a bell?” The answer: “Not over here.”

We emailed the nonprofit’s CEO, Chris Woods, twice Monday asking for specifics about funding sources, but Woods has not provided any information.

Ronni Amos says AK should have made sure its funding was secure. “This is a black-and-white situation, no gray area. You’re supposed to pay people on time. That is it, either yes or no. Either you received funds or you did not. And if you didn’t receive funds, then why would you have people work for you?”

Julius Richards’ concern is simple: “We want to get back, continue with the rest of our summer and get some money to pay for our bills.”

Channel 2 notified APS Monday morning that we had received a teacher’s complaint of nonpayment. Tuesday, a district spokesman said he hoped to have answers by the close of business that day.

It took APS about 55 hours to get us a statement, but this is part of what came in just a few minutes ago:

“This vendor did not contact the district to express concerns about any financial challenges they were having. APS is not responsible for a vendor’s inability to maintain its commitment to paying its employees on time.”

Ronni Amos estimates there are 50-60 teachers awaiting their checks. She estimates the total amount in dispute to be about $45,000 to $50,000.

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