2nd Kelowna-area school has thousands go missing from PAC bank account

The Kelowna RCMP is investigating an alleged fraud that siphoned thousands of dollars out of the bank account of the South Rutland Elementary School parent advisory council.

According to the Central Okanangan district PAC president, as much as $20,000 was allegedly taken by one of the South Rutland PAC executive members over a period of one to two years.

"The PAC needed some money for an event … and looked at the account in December and found it was almost empty," said Sarah Shakespeare. 

It's the second instance of a Kelowna-area school PAC having money stolen in the last few months.

In September of last year, the parent advisory council at Glenrosa Elementary in West Kelowna reported more than $20,000 had been stolen from its bank account. West Kelowna RCMP continue to investigate that case.

Police say there is nothing to indicate the two thefts are related.

'Everyone trusts each other'

Shakespeare believes some of the volunteers involved in the South Rutland PAC were too trusting when it came the finances, something that's common when volunteer groups like PACs and sports organizations have money stolen.

"What happens in PACs is that everyone trusts each other … because it's a family within the school. It's a tight community and when someone take on a bit more responsibility and says, 'I'll go to the bank, I'll count the money,' others say, 'Great, thanks,'" said Shakespeare.

"And there's no suspicion because it appears that everything is good."

Although the school boards have no jurisdiction over PACs, the chair of Central Okanagan Public Schools says the volunteer parent groups need to take steps to guard against fraud and theft of funds.  

"We certainly advise our parent advisory councils to have proper guidelines in place," said Moyra Baxter. 

"It should be automatic that things happen, like more than one signature [on a cheque,] more than one person looking at the books and more than one person counting money. This protects everyone."

According to the South Rutland PAC bylaws, four of the seven executives have cheque signing authority.

Baxter says the school board has already covered funding shortfalls for PAC-sponsored activities like field trips at Glenrosa and will do the same at South Rutland. ​

Last year a Surrey woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined for using forged bank statements to defraud the École K.B. Woodward Elementary PAC of at least $20,000 that was meant to fund a new playground. ​