| Updated: 6/27/2008 8:02 am |
Published: 6/26/2008 9:26 pm |
Close to $100,000 was reported missing from the Bearden school district. Now parents want to know what this means for the education of their children. The issue sparked a meeting of school leaders Thursday night.
Amanda Foust has children in Bearden public schools. And, like many parents, she has questions about $100,000 reportedly missing.
When FOX16 went to the school to find out what’s going on, the superintendent asked us to leave. We questioned Superintendent Denny Rozenberg after the meeting.
"The only thing I can say about that, we are currently undergoing our yearly audit. We did have a change in the book keeper in March or April when that audit is released. Any findings will be released at that time," Rozenberg said.
He would not elaborate on the published reports only saying the district is now drastically seeking to make up for lost funds.
"Offering some part time positions to some of our teachers and re-looking at it next year should determine if we need anybody," he said.
Fulltime teacher Lori Ottley was offered one of the demotions.
"We were told that our superintendent has spoken to a lawyer and it was legal to break our contract...the advice we got was start looking for a job," Ottley said.
Parents are demanding answers about that $100,000 in question.
"It wasn't like it was done overnight... They should have found it long before now," Foust said.
After the reported $100,000 loss, the Bearden school district demoted four full time teachers to part time positions. This saved the school $60,000-$80,000 according to Rozenberg. Former bookkeeper Debbie Riggs resigned before the end of the school year. The state is now reviewing the district's finances.
