>>Valley Patriot>>
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Educator
to Pay Back $25k in Missing Money
Former North Andover Program Director Agrees to Repay
Missing Money as Part of Plea Deal with Town
Paula Porten
(03/06/07)
 Last year, North
Andover Community Programs Director Catherine Entsminger
resigned after an independent audit of the Community
Programs revolving account found discrepancies and monies
unaccounted for.
The school system hired the auditing firm of Sullivan,
Rogers & Co., LLC, which reported that Entsminger
admitted she only deposited checks and money orders, and
that she did not keep books or records to account for the
missing cash.
Sullivan said in its report that Entsminger told her
assistant “early on” not to tell anyone that
they collected cash and to give all cash payments
directly to her.
Community Programs administers before and after school
programs, such as the extended kindergarten
program.
After further investigation, Entsminger was charged with
larceny over $250 and was arraigned in Lawrence District
Court in early February. It was alleged at the time
that Entsminger stole $27,339.00 in cash from the school
program.
The Valley Patriot has learned that a deal has been
reach-ed and that Entsminger has agreed to pay back
$25,820.36 to the North Andover school system, plus
attorney fees. This amount is based upon the audit’s
documented amount Entsminger misappropriated. As part of
the agreement, Entsminger will also receive five years
probation.
This plea deal is to be presented in Lawrence District
Court on March 14th and school officials and members of
the School Committee are hopeful that the judge accepts
the deal.
On February 27, 2007, School Committee Chairman Al Perry
wrote a victim impact statement directed to the court.
In his letter he states, “The allegations of
embezzlement and the misuse of funds filed against Ms.
Entsminger, has been an embarrassment to our school
community. The excellent reputation that Community
Programs held for many years has been compromised by the
actions of Ms. Entsminger.”
The letter goes on to say, “It is the opinion of the
North Andover School Committee that the serious nature of
Ms. Entsminger’s offense must not go unpunished. A
strong message must be sent to future would be offenders
stating that similar actions by any administrator in our
school district cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Perry’s letter concluded, “Ms. Entsminger has
agreed to reimburse the District in the amount of
$25,820.36. This equals the amount of funds which our
audit documented Ms. Entsminger misappropriated, plus
attorneys’ fees the District incurred in pursuing
this matter. Based on Ms. Entsminger’s agreement to
reimburse the District forthwith, the School Committee
concurs in the District Attorney’s recommendation
for sentencing.” The letter was unanimously voted on
by the School Committee last week.
Chairman Perry said he was “very satisfied”
with the deal: “We played hardball and got the money
back, plus attorney fees.” According to Perry,
the reimbursed money will be placed back into the
Community Programs revolving account.
Thomson School PTO President Dawn Crescitelli said she
was glad the schools finally received some good news.
“Maybe now the school’s reputation is going in
the right direction,” she said. “Maybe the
community can see that the School Committee is doing the
right thing and have more faith in them,” she added.
School Committeeman Bill Kelly was also pleased with the
agreement. “This is a good deal for the
schools; we are financially made whole,” he
said. “Also, since we now have set procedures
in place to ensure that this should not happen again in
the future,” he concluded, referring to the no-cash
policy the School Committee approved last year.
Rick Gallard has replaced Catherine Entsminger as the
Community Programs Director.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The March 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 12,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
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Salisbury Beach, and Lowell.
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