On May 12 concerned parents attended the El Tejon Unified School District Board meeting. One rose to make a three-minute statement. These are her words.

By Susan Bates

My child was an active member of the Associated Student Body during his four years of high school 2004-2008.

Accounting inquiry has revealed information about missing ASB monies. Any parent whose child was a part of ASB can tell you that these problems—missing funds—have been going on for years. I hope this isn’t the end of the investigation.

We have a moral obligation to the students—former, current and future—to remedy the past financial discrepancies that we can account for. In other words, we need to pay the students back the money our high school administration took.

Pull the money from the accounts that it should have come from and put it in ASB. Develop a plan for making payments if we don’t have all the funds right now.

The students worked hard for that money. We need to teach them that the administration is accountable for their mismanagement, errors and possible wrongdoing.

We need to teach our children that problems don’t just go away. We adult role models have to demonstrate integrity and accountability.

Please continue the investigation, so everyone—administration, teachers, students, and parents—will know that these actions will not be tolerated in the El Tejon Unified School District.

This is part of the June 11, 2010 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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