VILLAGE OF HARTLAND, WI - A part-time Hartland-Lakeside School District employee accused of embezzling more than $30,000 in district funds could be charged.
According to a 39-page police report, the employee worked as the business manager for the district for a little over a year. In that time, she managed to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on personal items.
"It's a poor reflection on the school," Stuart Mason said. "But it's one bad apple as far as we're concerned."
One bad apple who makes about $80,000 annually, but managed to rack up a bill of over $32,000 on the school district's dime. Stuart Mason has twin girls enrolled at one of the district schools. He said parents were alerted of the alleged theft via email about six weeks ago.
"It's good that there were the controls in place for them to be able to find this and I hope that that person is dealt with accordingly," Mason said.
According to a police report, the district employee spent the money on personal items like headphones, watches, a laptop, tablet -and even gave some of the items to district staff as gifts.
The district's superintendent reported numerous thefts to police and launched an investigation in November 2017.
What's more, the report confirms the bulk of thefts were a result of unauthorized purchases on some of the district's accounts such as Amazon and Sam's Club.
"I believe if this employee is convicted that they should never be allowed to work in this type of position again," Mason said.
According to the district the employee had been on administrative leave since November and resigned last week -the district also confirms restitution has been made.
