Teacher Gretchen Blackford Steals $15,000 from the PTO
In Grand Junction, Colorado, teacher Gretchen Blackford confessed to police that she stole at least $15,000 from the parent-teacher organization. She was the president of the Parent Teacher Council at Thunder Mountain Elementary School. Blackford teaches fifth grade at Rocky Mountain Elementary in Clifton, Colorado.
She said she used the money for her personal use. However, police say that it may take up to two months to determine how much money Blackford stole and when. She will not be arrested until the investigation is complete.
Blackford went on personal leave from her teaching position at Rocky Mountain Elementary. The school district says it cannot put someone on administrative leave for admitting that they did something wrong. Instead, they have to wait for police to offer evidence of theft or make an arrest.
The school district will hire a firm to conduct an audit based on Blackford’s confessions, but the district will not launch a separate investigation. Instead, they will let people handle it.
Blackford was honored in October 2006 as an outstanding school volunteer at the elementary school level for the 2005-2006 school year.
For more stories of teachers stealing, click here.
June 5th, 2008 at 1:24 am
[...] Gretchen Blackford, Teacher confessed to stealing from PTO in [...]
October 31st, 2009 at 11:01 am
very nice post…thank you