CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — A petition is being circulated, requesting the Missouri State Auditor’s office conduct a separate audit investigation into the case of the Camdenton R-III School District employee who is being investigated by the Camdenton Police Department for embezzling money from the school district.
Nancy Steward, parent of several Camdenton R-III alumni, is heading up the petition effort. Steward had three children in the district before they graduated, and she has one young grandchild who will attend school in the district.
Steward said the state auditor’s office requires at least 930 signatures to comply with her request; as of Monday, Nov. 17, she had 50.
“I just started collecting signatures on Friday, Nov. 14, and the snow has slowed me down some,” Steward said.
She explained that the reason she wants a separate audit is because the investigation currently being conducted by the Camdenton Police Department only goes back a few years, and the employee that is being investigated is thought to have worked for the school for at least 12 years.
“That means there was a lot more money stolen than what they are going to charge her with,” Steward said.
According to Camdenton R-III School District Superintendent Tim Hadfield, the State of Missouri only requires school districts to keep records for three years.
“We had five years of records so we had even more information than is required,” Hadfield contended.
Steward alleges the district has not been forthcoming about the source of the money that was stolen. She says the thing that infuriates her the most is the employee did not steal from the school district or the taxpayers. “She stole from children,” Steward fumed.
“My own son would come home and tell me he didn’t have any money on his lunch card when I knew I just gave him money for lunch,” Steward remembered. “He told me he had turned in the money to the lunch room but he always had a zero balance, or he owed money. It was costing me twice as much as it should, so I finally got to the point where I started sending cash each day for him to purchase a lunch.”
She continued, “I want parents to understand that their kids weren’t lying when they said they turned their money in, that employee stole it from them.”
Steward said since news of the investigation broke, parents have come forward with the same story from their students who say they saw the accused employee dump food into the trash, off of the trays of students who didn’t have lunch money on their account—money they expected to be there.
“We shouldn’t have to worry about protecting our children while they are in school,” Steward charged.
Steward is the President of the Camden County Conservative Club, but she said this petition project is in no way endorsed by the club.
“I am doing this on my own, as a concerned parent. I don’t think parents are being told the full truth. This is being made to sound like a fund, this was not a fund, this was our children’s money, and this woman was taking their lunch money, humiliating them in front of their peers, and then making them go hungry.”
Steward is also considering a petition to ask the state to audit the entire Camdenton R-III School District’s finances.
According to Hadfield, an official audit has just been completed on the entire district by independent auditors Graves and Associates.
Steward hopes that this petition will result in better checks and balances in District finances. “There obviously wasn’t here. She didn’t have anyone overseeing her accounts and therefore she was able to manipulate the system and take cash,” she said. “If it weren’t for another employee being put in the lunch line, she might still be getting away with it.”
“I also want the district to be a bit more transparent and own the fact that they don’t always get it right. They need to admit, in this case, they did not set up the proper protocol to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen to the kids.”
According to Steward, everyone that she has asked to sign the petition has signed it after she explains her intent. Persons interested in reading or signing the petition can call Steward at 573-280-2579.
