The trial involving a former Folly Quarter Middle School employee charged with embezzling about $10,000 from the school?s activity account last year may be rescheduled today, said a spokesman for the Office of the State?s Attorney for Howard County.
Wayne Kirwan, director of community justice and public information, said he did not know why the trial, which was scheduled to begin today, had been postponed, though it might have had something to do with the former employee, Ethel Collette Kirk, showing up late for a pretrial motions hearing.
A bench warrant had been issued for her arrest after she failed to show up for the hearing, but it was withdrawn when she arrived later in the day, Kirwan said.
Kirk?s attorney, Robert Keehner, could not be reached for comment Monday. Kirk worked for the Howard County school system from March 2003 to June 2005, according to a school system news release.
Folly Quarter?s principal raised concerns about the school?s activity account last spring.
Kirk, who worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for the school, was accused of writing numerous checks to herself and forging the required second signature on them.
She also is accused of destroying the canceled checks and falsifying documents in the school?s records.
Kirk resigned from the school during an investigation of the missing funds.
Since the incident, all school bank statements are reconciled at the system?s central office, said Diane Mikulis, School Board vice chairman.
The School Board also hired a new internal auditor, John Connors, who is spending more than half his time reviewing school activity accounts.
His first school auditing plan includes auditing one-third of the system?s 70 schools through June 2007.The remaining two-thirds will be audited in subsequent years, Mikulis said.
