SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An Elk Grove school employee is being accused of stealing money impacting field trips.
"These funds are supposed to go to their extracurricular activities," said Sgt. Tess Deterding with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said Geenel Madrid stole money meant for students at the school. Madrid was an office assistant at Zehnder Ranch Elementary school in Elk Grove.
"We're talking about a significant amount of money here, as well as some checks that Ms. Madrid had in her possession that she was not lawfully allowed to have," said Deterding. "Thousand of dollars. We're not talking about a couple hundred bucks. You want to make sure that there is justice in this type of scenario."
Deputies have now forwarded the case to the district attorney for prosecution. Madrid is set to appear in court in August.
Principal Mechale Murphy sent the following message to parents concerning this incident:
"The purpose of this letter is to provide Zehnder Ranch Elementary School parents with background on a recent situation involving a school employee who has resigned based on allegations of misappropriating funds. This news is both shocking and disappointing as it is not common and we are cooperating with law enforcement as they complete the investigation.
Please know that we have checks and balances in place to prevent and/or detect these types of incidents, and in this case, the system worked in detecting the fraud.
We are sharing this information with you as part of our ongoing efforts to keep you informed about incidents that affect our campus. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (916) 793-3300."
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