TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Police Investigate Missing Money At Pasco High

ADVERTISEMENT

By RONNIE BLAIR and LISA A. DAVIS of The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

Updated: 10/31/2007 04:17 pm

DADE CITY - Police are investigating the disappearance of about $20,000 collected from athletic events at Pasco High School, law enforcement and school district officials said today.

Capt. David Duff of the Dade City Police Department said the investigation began about a month ago and there is no telling when it might be completed. He would not discuss details of the case.

The $20,000 in gate receipts from sporting events disappeared during the 2006-07 school year, said Olga Swinson, chief finance officer for the Pasco County School District.

The school district conducted its own investigation of the missing money, then gave the information it gathered to police.

"We were not able to determine exactly who took the money," Swinson said. "We have some suspicions of individuals and that's why it was turned over to the police department."

Similar cases have cropped up at other schools.

Nearly $20,000 also was missing at Land O' Lakes High, but most of that was later found. Less than $1,000 is still unaccounted for, Swinson said.

At Land O' Lakes, the district enlisted the aid of the school resource officer in investigating because access to the bookkeeper's office was unlimited. Not enough evidence was found to continue with the investigation, Swinson said.

The bookkeeper later resigned, though.

"We did have issues with procedures that were not followed," Swinson said.

Suspicions also arose at River Ridge High School when district auditors noticed a significant drop in gate receipts for athletic events from one year to the next, she said.

The audit also determined that some procedures weren't being followed and that led the district to ask the principal to remove the business manager from the position, Swinson said.

That person still is employed with the district, but in a different job, she said.

The district is continuing to monitor gate collections at River Ridge High in an effort to determine whether the one year with low gate receipts was an anomaly.

"We don't really have any evidence something was going on," Swinson said.
At this point, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office hasn't become involved in that investigation, Swinson said.

She said the district typically doesn't notify law enforcement officials in such cases "unless we have hard evidence and can document someone is misappropriating funds."

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com. Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT