Bookkeeper Accused of School Theft

An arrest warrant has been issued for former bookkeeper Kara Pringle of Acworth after a investigation discovered $9,853.70 missing from school fundraisers.

The missing proceeds came from cookie and ticket sales over nearly three years from the high school’s football and basketball programs and the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, school district spokesman Jay Dillon told Patch on Monday afternoon.

Pringle had not been arrested on the charge of theft by taking as of Monday night. Bond on the charge was set at $20,000.

The 42-year-old is accused of pocketing cash collected between May 2008 and January, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported the Cobb County warrant Monday morning.

Dillon said the bookkeeping practices of Pringle, who was hired in August 2004, were the focus of two audits by the school system. The first was in 2005.

“Both audits found major accounting errors and problems with following policies and procedures,” Dillon said.

After the first audit revealed financial irregularities, Dillon said, Pringle received a warning and more training.

In January, after the second uncovered similar discrepancies, the district’s human resources department recommended Pringle for demotion, and she resigned instead, Dillon said.

According to OpenGeorgia.gov, Pringle earned $26,078.04 during fiscal 2010. Although most of the district’s 118 bookkeepers didn’t accrue travel expenses, Pringle turned in the highest total with $224.19. The next closest was $63.06.

Pringle couldn’t be reached for comment. No one aswered her residential phone line Monday evening.