Varnum Public Schools is a small district in central Oklahoma’s Seminole county.
According to the report, the district’s encumbrance clerk and superintendent secretary, Stacey Benard, issued fraudulent checks to herself totaling $9,621. She routinely signed the superintendent’s name on the checks using a signature stamp.
Benard resigned in 2021 over the alleged embezzlement. According to the audit, the resignation agreement said the district believed Benard had embezzled funds, but the allegations were disputed and no formal findings had been made. Benard acknowledged misconduct and agreed to pay $50,000 in restitution. No one could explain how that number was determined.
According to the audit, Benard paid $1,000 before stopping payments on the advice of her legal counsel.
The audit also found the district could not show supporting documentation for nearly a third of Amazon purchases, $8,300 from its activity fund debit card and nearly three-quarters of checks written from the activity and general funds. It is missing at least $9,581 in cash collected from fundraisers and events.
The report said there could be more missing money, but the review was limited to deposits for which documentation was available, and some records were unable to be found.
“We had a particularly bad actor in this case, but the ultimate responsibility falls on the members of the school board,” Byrd said in a news release. “One of the fundamental duties of a school board is to keep an eye on the money. … Blind trust is the opposite of oversight.”
Current Varnum Public Schools Superintendent Jon Hadley reiterated in a statement to StateImpact the events of the audit occurred approximately five years ago.
The district’s former superintendent for the audit period was David Brewer.
"Since that time, the district's administration and leadership team, as well as the structure and dynamics of the board, have changed significantly," Hadley said. "Furthermore, the district has strengthened financial procedures, internal controls, oversight and transparency to ensure strong safeguards are in place, so that public funds and resources are managed responsibly and carefully in the best interest of our district, students and taxpayers."
The full audit report can be found here.
This article was updated to include a response from Jon Hadley.
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