As a result of being charged with theft of an amount of between $1,500 and $20,000, Mary Burns awaits prosecution of criminal charges filed by the PTA.

 

“We had a good idea she was taking money from the organization,” PTA finance officer Jeannette Lumpkin said.

 

The PTA had discovered that during the previous fall season there was $2,000 missing and they assumed she took more since a majority of the contributions were in cash.

“There wasn’t enough money in the account to pay the $1,200 for buses, lunch and tickets to the play,” Lumpkin said.

 

The school planned for the junior English students to see Macbeth last fall, but there was not enough money left in the in the account due to the $2,000 missing.

 

“After the audit we realized who probably took it, we were feeling that someone we considered our friend had deceived us,” PTA president Sydney Long said.

 

After this incident, the PTA board was afraid that this would tear our school apart, yet it actually brought the school and PTA together.

 

“It is tragic on a number of different levels,” superintendent Curtis King said. “It’s a terrible thing for the PTA at the high school, and also for the individual charged in the case.”

 

If Mrs. Burns is found guilty for the theft charges between $1,500 and $20,000, she could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in jail and/or receive a fine of $150,000.

 

“It was a shock to find out this has happened,” Junior English teacher Marilyn Lenk said. “ As one of the faculty sponsors of the PTA I had the opportunity to work with all the parents on a more personal level.”

 

The parents of the organization were devastated to find out that a teacher from the school was responsible for the missing money in the account.

 

“I know it was really difficult to go to my classes and tell them we couldn’t go to the play like we had planned,” Lenk said.