Center Grove Schools victim of financial crime

<p>The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a former employee of Center Grove Schools for a financial crime involving the county’s largest school district, officials said.</p><p>The sheriff’s office and school district won’t say if money is missing, the nature of the financial crime or the dollar amount involved.</p><p>Government agencies, including school districts, are required to notify the Indiana State Board of Accounts when a theft or misappropriation of funds occurs, which Center Grove has done, said Matt Light, chief of staff for the Indiana State Board of Accounts.</p><p>Center Grove Schools called the sheriff’s office on April 23 to ask for an investigation into an alleged financial crime that involved the entire school district, Sheriff Duane Burgess said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The sheriff’s office is not releasing any more details while the investigation is ongoing, Burgess said. </p><p>No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.</p><p>The details of the incident, who was involved and how the situation was discovered are unclear. The sheriff’s office and school district cite the ongoing investigation as reasons why details are not being released. The investigation into the former employee is still ongoing, and it is unclear when or how the employee involved left the school district.</p><p>Center Grove has reported the incident to the state agency that audits the finances of government agencies, which is reviewing the claim to decide what to do next.</p><p>The school district sent e-mailed statements from Richard Arkanoff, superintendent of Center Grove Schools, informing parents that the school district was aware of an investigation involving a former employee and that they are cooperating in the investigation.</p><p>The first e-mail informed parents that an investigation was happening that involved a former employee and that the school district called the police and were cooperating with the investigation.</p><p>A subsequent e-mail told parents that the incident being investigated involved a possible financial crime and that the investigation did not involve students or their safety.</p><p>Spokesperson Stacy Conrad declined to answer multiple other questions regarding the investigation including how much money was involved, how the alleged crime was discovered and the nature of the person’s employment with the school district, including their job title.</p><p>The last Indiana State Board of Accounts audit of the school district’s finances were released in March 2018 and covered the school district’s accounts from mid-2015 to mid-2017.</p><p>The State Board of Accounts is actively reviewing Center Grove’s claim to decide what, if any, action to take. Once an incident has been reported to the board of accounts, reviewers will decide what action to take depending on the severity of the situation, including the amount of money involved and the impact to the entity that made the claim. Possible actions could include a special audit to start immediately, addressing the issue at the next scheduled audit or moving up a regularly scheduled audit, Light said.</p><p>The school district’s board of trustees has called an executive session, which is closed to the public, for 7 a.m. Monday. The agenda says the board will discuss strategy regarding litigation, receive information regarding misconduct and discuss an employee’s job performance.</p><p>It is unclear if the meeting is related to this incident, and Center Grove officials declined to comment on whether it was related and what was expected to come from the meeting. </p>