HANOVER COUNTY, Va. — A former bookkeeper at Beaverdam Elementary School in Hanover County will serve prison time after being convicted of embezzlement for stealing $35,000 from the school.
In January, Kara Melton was sentenced to two active years in prison for the theft, which Hanover County Commonwealth's Attorney Mackenzie Babichenko said occurred over a period of several months, dating back to 2023, in her role as an administrative assistant.
What began as fudged time sheets progressed into using school funds to issue checks at fake vendors, skimming deposits from the Scholastic Book Fair and using the school's purchasing card inappropriately.
Hanover County Auditor Angela Baxter found Melton "deprived the school of resources" to buy items for herself.
“It was clothes. She's on video using it on vacation in the Outer Banks," Babichenko said. "Target items, Amazon Prime items shipped to her house. She sent a picture of some new items in her bathroom to one of the teachers at the school, saying, ‘Hey, look at my little redecoration project that I just did.’ And those items— the auditor was able to track back to being used from the county card.”
Babichenko told CBS 6 that she hopes the case sends a message to the public, as Melton's sentence exceeded the recommended guideline of probation, which prosecutors pushed for.
"If you take public funds and use them, and you're betraying the public trust, you're eroding the public trust like that. You deserve to go to jail," she said. “Do not come to Hanover County and steal public funds that are for our community."
Melton was also ordered to pay restitution.
In her audit report, Baxter concluded that Beaverdam's "poor practices and failure to follow documented procedures allowed the Bookkeeper to misappropriate funds" and that Melton "took advantage" of insufficient purchasing reviews and budget oversight by the principal.
Further, Baxter found "limited detective controls at the school board office contributed to the delay in discovering the fraud."
“Do you think that this was also a learning lesson for the district and the school, maybe to improve upon some of those oversight mechanisms?” reporter Tyler Layne asked.
"I think that happens anytime you have a case like this, and I don't want to look at it as negative. Even in talking to the principal and other people involved, they saw this as a place where they could be better," Babichenko said.
Spokesperson for Hanover County Public Schools Chris Whitley said the district took "swift action" to make the proper notifications once the issue was discovered and fully cooperated with investigators.
"As a school division, we recognize the importance of fiscal responsibility and stewardship. We take this professional responsibility very seriously. We have offered additional training to those tasked with administering funds and have continued to emphasize the importance of transparency, accountability, and adherence to established financial procedures, among other steps. Through this work, we help to ensure that public resources are used effectively to support students and staff, as well as to foster trust within our broader community," Whitley said.
In response to the issues identified in the audit, the district took several steps to tighten financial oversight, auditing, and documentation procedures.
CBS 6 reached out to Melton's defense attorney for comment, but we have not heard back.
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