Millicent Few pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge. Few will serve a year of probation, perform 250 hours of community service and pay $800 in restitution. She has been cooperating with prosecutors.
Few is the highest-ranking former Atlanta Public Schools executive to admit wrongdoing. District Attorney Paul Howard tells WSB-TV Few is the prosecution's most significant witness because she's the first person who can testify that she personally saw former superintendent Beverly Hall ordering the destruction of a school's internal investigation.
Howard said he hasn't discussed Few's disclosures with Hall's attorneys. Hall has pleaded not guilty, and her lawyers have adamantly proclaimed her innocence.
"This does not change Dr. Hall's resolve to continue to fight the charges against her. She is presumed innocent and continues to look forward to her day in court," Hall's lead attorney said in an emailed statement Monday.
Hall and Few were among 35 former administrators and teachers named in an indictment last year for their alleged involvement in a scheme to tamper with standardized test results.
"I want to sincerely apologize to the citizens of Atlanta and specifically the students," Few told Baxter. "I want to apologize to them and I look forward to hopefully moving forward with my life."
Lead prosecutor Fani Willis read the plea agreement aloud in court. Few said she was convinced by 2008 that there was rampant cheating in Atlanta Public Schools but she didn't tell investigators about it when questioned in 2011.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/2/271290