Bluegrassrivals

COVINGTON — The former treasurer of the Beechwood High School Athletic Boosters will spend 30 days in jail for stealing from the nonprofit group.
Shelli Slusher, 44, of Fort Mitchell, admitted in April to stealing more than $10,000 from the boosters, though prosecutors contend she took about $60,000.
“When people we depend on for fiduciary relationships fail us it’s just a devastation for everybody,” Kenton Cirucit Judge Patricia Summe said Monday while sentencing Slusher.
Summe also noted that while Slusher said in a pre-sentencing report that she was happy, there must have been some reason she stole the money.
“Hopefully you’ll learn how to be happy within your means and within the guidelines of the law and not make other people unhappy,” Summe said. “A lot of kids probably missed out on a lot of things.”
The boosters provide money for sports programs and development costs, including facilities and equipment upgrades, according to the group's website.
Though the charge is a felony punishable by five to 10 years in prison, in exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors recommended Slusher be sentenced to the 30 days in jail, five years probation and six months of home incarceration.
Slusher’s attorney Christopher Jackson asked the judge to follow the recommendation and to allow Slusher to serve her jail time on weekends.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said he did not oppose Slusher serving weekends as long as she served the 30 days.
As part of her agreement, Slusher has also paid $31,341 in restitution to the boosters and written a letter to the boosters apologizing.
Summe ordered Slusher to report to the Kenton County jail at 8 a.m. Friday to serve her first weekend. Slusher will get three days credit for serving Fridays through Sundays.
While she serves six months of home incarceration, Slusher will be allowed only to leave home to drive her children to and from school. She will also be allowed to go to work, if she becomes employed. She is also banned from the Beechwood school campus except to pick up or drop off her children and to attend graduation.
Neither Slusher nor her attorney would comment after the sentencing.
A new boosters board and Beechwood Independent Schools contacted authorities last year after conducting an internal review of past operations and discovering the missing money.
The criminal investigation was conducted by Kentucky State Police. The school and new boosters officers cooperated with the investigation, the school said after Slusher's arrest.http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/201...m-boosters

Checks and balances could have stopped this before it got to 60K, ive heard rumblings of more than that from some Beechwood people I know.

^ I agree with you 100%, BUT, No one wants these jobs! These are jobs that parents run from. This is not a school sponsored job, this is a volunteer group. Parents want to be active to support their own kids, and then complain when things don't go the way they want them to. But no one wants to step up and take charge of anything. The parents leave as soon as their child leaves. I'm not saying that is always the case, but it is 99% of the time.

I can guarantee you that no one stepped up to request the job! I can also guarantee you that no one wanted to look at the books. Could there have been checks and balances? Heck yes, but no one wants to fool with it when this is completely voluntary! This lady nor anyone else on the boosters had a salary, thus when you get volunteers you possibly get a bad egg! It's a shame, it's the kids who lose out, but to fix it, then MORE people have to volunteer to take on more of the headaches, and that just doesn't happen.

Stardust Wrote:^ I agree with you 100%, BUT, No one wants these jobs! These are jobs that parents run from. This is not a school sponsored job, this is a volunteer group. Parents want to be active to support their own kids, and then complain when things don't go the way they want them to. But no one wants to step up and take charge of anything. The parents leave as soon as their child leaves. I'm not saying that is always the case, but it is 99% of the time.

I can guarantee you that no one stepped up to request the job! I can also guarantee you that no one wanted to look at the books. Could there have been checks and balances? Heck yes, but no one wants to fool with it when this is completely voluntary! This lady nor anyone else on the boosters had a salary, thus when you get volunteers you possibly get a bad egg! It's a shame, it's the kids who lose out, but to fix it, then MORE people have to volunteer to take on more of the headaches, and that just doesn't happen.

The school should have requested to look at the books. Just as the booster should have requested to look at the schools books.

The problem isnt the volume of people who sign up for these jobs, its that those that sign up are qualified to handle those positions.

IMO, this goes on a lot and don't get noticed because they don't take this much money!

Spud6 Wrote:IMO, this goes on a lot and don't get noticed because they don't take this much money!

Spud what makes you think this goes on a lot? just curious

^
It's happened at many schools.
I think you'd be surprised at how many schools have had problems with this.
I know Whitley has.

plantmanky Wrote:The school should have requested to look at the books. Just as the booster should have requested to look at the schools books.

The problem isnt the volume of people who sign up for these jobs, its that those that sign up are qualified to handle those positions.

I have to disagree. I think it is totally lack of help. It's basic accounting and accountability. You put a system in place with two signature checks and present a copy of all written checks at each mtg. 50-90 players benefit from the work of the parents of 15 players. Most don't want to look closely at whats going on because they are afraid they will be asked to help.

How in the world did they not notice before the total hit 60k? That's a lot of cheese, she must of did this over a long period of time.

Everyone just thought this went to the recruits like it was supposed to...

jetpilot Wrote:Everyone just thought this went to the recruits like it was supposed to...

When Mayfield knocked them out of the title hunt last year they knew they had to dig deep and and expand there boundries. :Cheerlead I bet the beechies have the biggest area of students for a class A school in the state. Goes against everything a class A school should stand for.

30 Days on the weekend?

What a JOKE!

The whole school system is turning into a joke! The firing of the Baseball coach continued the lunacy

I think this goes on more than reported simply because of all the cash that's handled back and forth. Perhaps not to the $60K level, but it's very easy to take a couple hundred every time you help out with the football gate. I've seen this before and by people that I didn't expect. But Stardust is right. It's so difficult to get trustworthy people to volunteer for this kind of work.

Stardust Wrote:The whole school system is turning into a joke! The firing of the Baseball coach continued the lunacy

You would know more than I Star. Heard Bob is a great coach. I know he's been at it along time, he coached me for a couple of years in knothole. And I'm no spring chicken!

hop24 Wrote:When Mayfield knocked them out of the title hunt last year they knew they had to dig deep and and expand there boundries. :Cheerlead I bet the beechies have the biggest area of students for a class A school in the state. Goes against everything a class A school should stand for.

Another clueless 12 year old who shouldn't be allowed to see or use a computer. 99% of the kids at Beechwood are in district. The other 1% are required to pass a test judging their academic viability.

Do yourself a favor ... come up to practice ... and follow everyone home .. and see where they actually live.

And yes .. in case you are not aware .. you are a freaking moron.