Finance Director Kim Lake reads from audit findings as Finance Officer Pamela Whitney observes at Tuesday’s Levy County School Board meeting.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
A former bookkeeper for Cedar Key School has been charged with one count of grand theft for allegedly stealing more than $26,000 from the school’s bank accounts.
Malinda Lee Roland’s case is slowly making its way through the Levy County court system.
Her arrest was mentioned at Tuesday’s Levy County School Board meeting when the board discussed audit findings indicating internal money controls at some schools could use some improvement.
Among the criticisms in the audit findings were instances where:
- In excess of $20 was collected from a student by a teacher without giving the student a receipt.
- Timely deposits of money weren’t made within a 5 day window.
- Receipts lacked sufficient documentation for auditing purposes.
- Purchases were made without requesting approval of the principal.
- Funds in trust accounts were overspent.
- Funds weren’t kept in a safe or vault when submitting to the school’s bookkeeper.
District Finance Director Kim Lake and Finance Officer Pamela Whitney gave a report on the internal audit. Lake said efforts are being made to tighten internal controls.
Roland’s case came to the attention of the Levy County Sheriff’s Office in June of 2019 when Human Resources Director Marla Hiers reported the theft of several thousand dollars from Cedar Key School bank accounts.
Deputy Justin Douglas, the investigating officer, said Roland resigned from the school district after being placed on suspension pending a school board hearing regarding the missing money, according to his report.
“I was advised that prior to the hearing Roland had left a letter and keys on her desk and placed a resignation letter with the superintendent of schools,” Douglas said.
Douglas was provided with bank records showing $3,000 was missing, but was later provided a complete audit of the finances, “and the amount grew to $26,596.92.”
Douglas subpoenaed the bank records of Roland and found there were many cash deposits ranging from $200 to $2,235.
The deputy spoke to Roland at her Newberry area address in Alachua County. Roland denied any wrongdoing at first. She said she moved money around in the accounts to show what was needed “due to poor accounting and mismanaged monies.”
“I asked Roland about the cash deposits made to her account at the ATM at the Chiefland branch of her bank, and she stated that she had been taking approximately $100 to $200 every few weeks for the past two years and that she had paid back the money several times, but the amount of the monies had gotten away from her and that she was unable to pay them back,” Douglas said. “Roland also mentioned taking several large sums of money from the school account and putting the monies into her personal account to pay bills and buy food for her family.”
Roland told the deputy her mother was ill and her husband was unable to work due to illness at the time of the thefts and that she only used the monies to pay bills and not expensive items of luxury. She admitted taking approximately $5,000 over a two year period and then admitted possibly stealing as much as $10,000.
“She was asked again and confronted with the total amount reported by the Levy County School Board being over $26,000. She admitted the total amount may be $15,000 or more,” Douglas said.
Roland told the deputy she wanted to speak to the State Attorney and figure out a way to repay the money to avoid jail time by cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation. She mentioned several other bank accounts but did not say she had made deposits in the other accounts.
Douglas said the sheriff’s office has a detailed record showing the total loss of school board funds at about $26,000.
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School Board of Levy County Regular Meeting January 28, 2020; Posted January 28, 2020
