Questions raised over Allatoona HS star players
ACWORTH, Ga. -
In a state where football reigns supreme, the most daunting challenge had nothing to do with x's and o's.
No, the bigger game involved zipcodes and street numbers, and whether high school athletes are really living in the district where they play.
A FOX 5 I-Team investigation raised questions about where the families of two players really live, two star seniors who were important cogs in one hugely successful program.
In December, 2015, Allatoona High School in Acworth won its first state football championship, beating Glynn Academy 10-6 to claim the AAAAA crown.
Until he hurt his knee late in the season, Russell Halimon was the starting tailback. Juanyea Tarver played safety. Both made the All-State AAAAA team.
Both players' families told us the Cobb School system investigated them when they first enrolled at Allatoona High School as freshmen, amid allegations they really were not living in Cobb. Both students were cleared to attend and ultimately play sports. But just as Allatoona was about to wrap up a state championship in football, the FOX 5 I-Team got a tip encouraging US to investigate.
Guess where we found both players? In Paulding County.
Each time we stopped by separate Paulding County addresses, we saw each player going in or out of the house. Five random days over a three-week period. We even saw both players leaving those Paulding County addresses in the morning with their book bags.
The game of football doesn't work without rules. So here are the key rules when it comes to Cobb school residency: the student must be "an occupant of a dwelling within the school system boundaries..." and it's got to be "the place where the student lives with a parent, guardian or other person."
Follow the rules, and a school would play only the kids whose families legitimately live in the county, shop there and pay taxes there.
Every team on an even playing field.
When we tried to talk to Tarver's father Corey, he denied what we ourselves saw.
"He stays at my mother's house," claimed Tarver.
"He stays there every night?"
"Every night, sir."
"So no one's trying to pull a fast one on the county?"
No answer. Tarver insisted his son lived in Cobb County with his grandmother. The Tarvers gave her guardianship when he was in middle school. But Paulding neighbors said the entire family lives on their street. We even saw the dad walk out of the Paulding County home with all three children and their backpacks one school morning, load them up in his car and drive off.
"He lives with his grandmother?" asked Randy.
"Yeah, that's his permanent residence," Tarver replied.
"Well, how come you've been picking him up here?"
"I haven't been picking him up here."
"Well, how come he's been leaving here to go to school in the morning?"
"He doesn't leave here to go to school in the morning."
"He doesn't live here at all?"
"No, he doesn't."
Three years after the Tarvers gave their Cobb County relative guardianship of their son, Shinika Tarver declared bankruptcy, listing all three children as her dependents at that address in Paulding County.
What about his teammate Russell Halimon? His mother Lashawn admitted they were living in Paulding County, but only because they just moved.
"Our lease was up and we moved here after the football season," she explained. "So we're staying with my brother right now until we actually get our place."
"So where were you living last year?"
"On Autumn View Drive in Acworth."
"And you were living there the entire time? The entire season?"
"Correct."
Neighbors on Autumn View Drive said that's just not true. The family living in the house where Ms. Halimon claimed to be last year actually moved in two years ago. In fact, neighbors said they've never seen the Halimons.
Ms. Halimon drove a car with a Paulding County tag. She admitted having a Paulding County driver's license.
"Why not just send the kids to Paulding County schools?" Randy asked Tarver's father Corey.
"Because their mom live here and that's where their grandmother lives."
A spokesperson for Cobb County Schools declined our offer to review our findings and comment before the investigation aired. She said the Cobb was not doing its own investigation.
And what about Allatoona's state title? When it comes to residency issues, the Georgia High School Athletic Association only has jurisdiction over students who transfer after their freshman year. Since Tarver and Halimon started the ninth grade at Allatoona, state regulators can do nothing.
The responsibility for enforcing eligibility rules rests solely with Cobb County schools.