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Principal Shuts Parent-Teacher Group, Citing Missing Money

Posted on: Saturday, 8 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Bill Bush, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Apr. 8--A Columbus principal disbanded his elementary school's parent-teacher group last month amid financial irregularities that could involve thousands of dollars in missing cash.

But school officials at Douglas Alternative Elementary, 43 S. Douglas St. on the East Side, never notified police or even the parents who helped raise the money, district spokesman Michael Straughter said.

Instead, Principal Ralph Scurry banned the group -- the Douglas Community Association -- from raising any more money on school grounds or using the building for meetings, Straughter said.

"It would not have hurt to notify and share this information with the parents as a whole. That was not done -- or at least not done yet."

Police were not notified, because the money raised by the group doesn't belong to the district nor was it held in a district bank account, Straughter said.

Douglas parent Regina Dawson said yesterday that the organization's members didn't know of financial problems or that the group had been disbanded.

"I'm a member, and I have no clue. That makes me look bad," Dawson said.

The group raised money for student activities and recently was raising money to buy playground equipment for the kindergartners, Dawson said. "I still help participate in raising money, helping to sell things. If the kids aren't getting it, then we're doing work for nothing."

Scurry wouldn't talk to a reporter.

The problem came to light when he noticed that fundraising activities weren't raising as much money as expected, Straughter said. At least two vendors who provided goods for the group to sell were sending Scurry invoices totaling thousands of dollars, Straughter said, and the Douglas Community Association's three officers could not provide documentation detailing how the money had been spent.

Unlike PTAs, the Community Association had no national affiliation, allowing "100 percent of the funds generated to stay right within the school," according to the school's Web site. "The DCA provides opportunities for our children through their fundraising and generous support of our school programs.

"In addition to hosting social events and coordinating school performances and programs, the DCA raises funds (hundreds of dollars per year) to help buy library books and specialized equipment, equip all classrooms with telephones, fund special projects, support to our staff and our students."

Membership in the group is open to staff, parents and friends of Douglas.

If the group had been a PTA, its officers would have been bonded for up to $50,000 to cover any losses, said Barbara Sprague, executive director of the Ohio PTA.

Sprague said school districts have no responsibility to inform police of suspected financial negligence or wrongdoing on the part of parent organizations.

"Unless someone blows the whistle on them," she said, "they often just go their merry way."

bbush@dispatch.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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