Waste of the Day: School Secretary Cashed Checks

Topline: A new Oklahoma state audit alleges that a former public school employee wrote fraudulent checks to herself and hid money meant for the school’s activity fund.

The school secretary was stealing the district’s money

Key facts: Stacey Benard resigned from her secretary job at Varnum Public Schools in 2021 over allegations of embezzlement, with auditors finding eight checks totaling $9,621 that she wrote to herself.

Benard logged the checks in the school’s accounting software as payments to companies like Lowe’s and the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, but she allegedly printed them with herself listed as the payee. Auditors were able to track down copies of the checks, showing that Benard endorsed them herself.

She was also in charge of fundraising for the District Activity Fund, which helps pay for field trips and extracurriculars. The audit claims that Benard often did not deposit the full amount from her fundraisers into the Activity Fund. For example, a fundraiser in March 2021 brought in $8,866, but Benard only deposited $7,520 into the school’s bank account. The audit does not explain what happened to the missing money.

Benard’s resignation agreement from 2021 says that “Both parties agree that the factual allegations are disputed” and “no official findings have been made by District’s Board of Education.”

The state auditor also found accounting oddities related to former Superintendent David Brewer. He used one PayPal account to make both personal and school-related purchases, making it difficult to distinguish them. He used the account to buy a $979 sports camera using school funds, but the camera “could not be located at the school.”

A particularly bad actor

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Critical quote: “We had a particularly bad actor in this case, but the ultimate responsibility falls on the members of the school board,” State Auditor Cindy Byrd said in a press release. “One of the fundamental duties of a school board is to keep an eye on the money. This includes overseeing the integrity of deposits and withdrawals from the district’s accounts. Blind trust is the opposite of oversight.”

Summary: It has now been more than five years since Benard’s apparent wrongdoing. Taxpayers deserve to know immediately when funds have been misappropriated, not years after the fact.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.