A former Federal Way Public Schools employee is accused of stealing $17,842 from students.
Charged on May 19, Shirely Ann King, 56, pleaded not guilty to first-degree theft on June 2.
Prosecutors allege King stole Associated Student Body funds between Sept. 14, 2010, and Sept. 15, 2014, as she worked as Kilo Middle School’s ASB financial secretary.
According to charging documents, the theft was discovered during an internal financial audit conducted on the school in March 2014.
The school district’s accounting manager noticed large discrepancies between the funds reported by two teachers and the point-of-sale receipts. The school began with a $600 shortage in the 2010-11 school year, gradually increasing its loss to a shortage of $4,824 in the 2013-14 school year.
In April 2015, after the audit, the accounting manager reported the theft to the King County Sheriff’s Office.
“On an ongoing basis, Federal Way Public Schools provides formal training on proper cash handling procedures,” Federal Way Public Schools spokeswoman Kassie Swenson said. “Additionally, both the district and state auditor’s office conduct annual internal audits to ensure processes and procedures are being complied with and funds are protected.”
King was allegedly the only one who had access to the school’s point-of-sale system. It was her responsibility to receive cash from the two teachers at the school, and give them receipts. According to court documents, she would often give the two teachers receipts that differed from the point-of-sale receipts. For instance, on Dec. 12, 2013, the teachers have a receipt reflecting $332.64, but King allegedly entered the amount into the point-of-sale system as $232.64.
One of the teachers told investigators that, on more than one occasion, King would tell him she’d provide a receipt at a later time because she “was too busy.” The teacher would then find the receipt in his box the next morning.
Both teachers began to feel “something was not right” in the 2012-13 school year and started keeping a detailed spreadsheet of their transactions along with copies of their receipts.
King is alleged to have pocketed the entire amount she short-changed the system.
“On several days during the school year 2013-2014, receipts were provided by King to [the teachers…] with no Point-of-Sale transactions being entered,” court documents show. “None of the funds were deposited into the bank account belonging to the school.”
The school used Key Bank, and King had a special point-of-sale clerk identification number.
Although Kilo Middle School’s principal “stated on several occasions” she told King to teach or train other employees how to use the point-of-sale system, King reportedly never did so.
“On all occasions, King appeared to intentionally hinder or delay any training of any other employee, and remained the only person able to use the [receipt] form and Point-of-Sale system,” the documents continue.
King was on a performance improvement plan for that behavior when she left the school in September 2014.
Investigators served search warrants on three of King’s bank accounts with Umpqua Bank, Sound Credit Union and HomeStreet Bank. Umpqua Bank showed over 100 cash deposits on different days for amounts ranging between $20-$220. Several days that King deposited funds matched days where discrepancies were reported between the point-of-sale receipts and the receipts King issued.
