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(AP) -- The Atlanta Public School system has settled a lawsuit with a civil rights group that claimed an alternative school was run more like a prison than an educational institution. 

The school district announced Wednesday it had settled the federal complaint filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The lawsuit claimed that the public school system and a private company responsible for running Forrest Hill Academy subjected students to routine body searches and failed to educate them. 

The settlement comes months after the Atlanta school system decided not to renew its contract this year with the company, Community Education Partners Inc. 

ACLU attorney Reginald Shuford called the agreement a sign that the students will now "receive the kind of quality education they deserve."

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