Police are looking for more than $8,000
By Bruce Lieberman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Source: http://signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080208-9999-1mi8theft.html
February 8, 2008
DEL MAR – More than $8,000 raised from a book fair in late December at Del Mar Heights Elementary School is missing, and police are investigating the incident as a possible embezzlement.
School officials discovered the money was missing Jan. 18 after checking a locked drawer in the school office, where an employee had stored the money in an envelope, Principal Wendy Wardlow said.
Nothing indicated the drawer had been forced open, she said.
The money should have been placed in a safe at the school, Wardlow said.
“I think in the busyness of things that a mistake was made,” she said.
The lost money totaled $8,107 – mostly in cash but also personal checks, Del Mar Union School District Superintendent Tom Bishop said. As of yesterday afternoon, neither the school nor the district office had notified parents of the theft.
“At first the (school) site had a hard time believing the money was gone, and then as we finally concluded that it was gone, this was on our list of things to do and we're finally getting around to it,” Bishop said.
The district planned to notify parents today, he said.
The case is being investigated by the San Diego Police Department's northwest division, said Gary Hassen, a department spokesman.
The school hosted the book fair in late December to raise money for new library books, Wardlow said. The educational company Scholastic sold books at the fair, and was to split money raised with the school. Wardlow said the school owed Scholastic about $5,000 of the $8,107 raised.
The school district has contacted its insurance company to cover the loss, but a settlement was still uncertain yesterday, Bishop said.
The loss of so much money from a school fundraiser is unprecedented in the district, he said.
To safeguard valuables at each school, the district installed safes on every campus about a year and a half ago, Bishop said.
“The safes are there to prevent episodes like this, so it's disappointing that this money is gone,” Bishop said.
Wardlow said she has reviewed with her staff the procedures for handling money.
“It's a very, very marvelous school, and every single person at this school is ethical and honorable,” Wardlow said.
“I certainly don't have a lack of confidence in any person at this school, (and) I don't think that there was ever any intent to be negligent.”
Bruce Lieberman: (760) 476-8205; bruce.lieberman@uniontrib.com
|