School workers fired after alleged thefts

Two clerical staff workers at Chugiak High, one at West High and a student nutrition worker at O'Malley Elementary School have been fired amid allegations they stole money from the Anchorage School District, Superintendent Carol Comeau said today.
One of them, Gayle White, formerly a secretary at Chugiak, has been charged with felonies -- second degree theft and falsifying business records, said Anchorage Police Department Detective Anthony Pate. Pate works in the financial crimes unit.
Charges are pending against the other three people, said Comeau, who declined to name them.
Pate said police are waiting until audits being conducted by the school district are completed before filing any more charges.
Court records show charges were filed against White on March 18.
The district and police don't know how much money is involved in the four cases.
Second-degree theft covers crimes of $500 to $25,000.
The allegations came to light because other staff members became suspicious, Comeau said.
The money that's missing was all cash, she said, and it was paid by families for things such as library fines, parking fees and extracurricular activity fees.
At the high schools, students came forward wanting fee refunds, but the schools didn't have receipts, said Comeau.
At O'Malley Elementary, about 20 parents called the principal because their children's pre-paid lunch cards were running out of money before they were supposed to, she said.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for different fees run through each high school annually, she said. Most of the payments are not in cash, however.