For Immediate Release:                                                      

November 17, 2020                                                               

Maple Heights School District Audit Released with Findings

Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber’s Office released the single audit of Maple Heights School District (Cuyahoga County), which included a finding for recovery against High School Secretary Karla Hopkins for $1,000 following her Theft in Office charge.

The former High School Secretary, Karla Hopkins, was responsible for collecting receipts for senior dues and other various high school class fees, preparing a pay-in for the daily collections, and then preparing the deposit for pick-up by a secured courier. Certain receipts were collected by advisors in the High School and then turned in to Ms. Hopkins to create a pay-in and prepare the deposit. The pay-in and deposit ticket were then turned in to the Treasurer’s office for posting to the accounting system.

Ms. Hopkins had access to collections for the period of review July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. Auditors compared the receipts to the revenues posted to the District accounting records and monies deposited in the District’s operating bank account and identified $42,673 of the $71,267 in total receipts which were not reported on the District accounting records or deposited into the District’s bank account.

On May 5, 2020, Ms. Karla Hopkins was indicted on one count of Theft in Office, a felony of the third degree, in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. On May 20, 2020 and June 16, 2020, the District received payments from its insurance company, Todd Associates in coordination with Liberty Mutual Insurance, in the total amount of $41,673 which excludes the deductible portion of $1,000.

A finding for recovery was issued against former High School Secretary, Karla Hopkins in the amount of $1,000 in favor of the Maple Heights City School District’s General Fund for HS Student/Class Fees.

A full copy of this report is available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.