A former D.C. public schools administrator pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing $30,000 from the grade school chess club whose run to the national championships four years ago fired the imaginations of area residents.
Sandy Jones, 40, a former business manager with the Moten Center Special Education School in Southeast Washington, admitted in federal court that she used the chess club’s bank account debit card and checks to illegally obtain cash from ATMs and forged checks, payable to herself.
Jones, arms crossed and expressionless, said little during the brief hearing beyond admitting her guilt.
She faces up to 10 years for first-degree felony fraud, but will likely receive probation or up to 10 months in prison, according to District of Columbia sentencing guidelines. Her sentencing is scheduled Feb. 8.
The chess club comprised emotionally troubled fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders who had been kicked outof other schools for behavioral problems.
Students who were labeled as being too dysfunctional to learn, were diagnosed with bipolar disorder or attention deficit disorder, were suddenly learning to sit still and concentrate for hours at a time. Their school work improved, and the team began to beat “regular” students from area schools.
The game kept the children off the streets of the city’s roughest neighborhoods and introduced new worlds to the students, many of whom had never ventured beyond Southeast D.C., said Vaughn Bennett, the volunteer coach who inspired the students and used the game to teach life lessons.
When area residents learned in 2003 that the D.C. school district did not have enough money to send the students to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the National Scholastic Chess Championship, more than $70,000 in private donations poured in to the Moten school.
The team of “special needs” students finished 33rd out of 64 of the nation’s top scholastic chess squads.
But shortly after the dream season ended, Jones began siphoning cash from the club’s accounts, usually withdrawing $250 at a time and eventually draining the fund of the remaining $30,000, according to charging documents.
The team never recovered.
Bennett left after the 2003 season when school administrators told him they wanted to use the money for “chess research,” he said. He told The Examiner earlier this month that had hoped to use the money to expand the program, to travel to more tournaments and to host free tournaments.
Instead, the team dissolved, Bennett said. Some ran afoul of the law. One of the students who managed to stay on the right path, Jon Allen Jr., 15, was shot and killed while standing outside his home two years ago.
Earlier this year, former teammate James Carter, 17, was shot multiple times and died.
Former D.C. Council member for Ward 8 Sandy Allen, grandmother of Jon Allen Jr., said she was glad authorities were able to prosecute Jones.
“The biggest thing is that the kids lost out,” Allen said, “and no amount of punishment will be able to bring that back.”
