By Lisa Loomis
Kay Marcelle, 60, of Duxbury has been charged with embezzling funds from the Waitsfield Education Fund, a nonprofit fund that had been set up to accept charitable donations to support scientific and educational technology and equipment for the Waitsfield Elementary School.
According to Vermont State Police Detective Tara Thomas, Brigid Scheffert, Washington West Supervisory Union superintendent, contacted police in August 2013 to report the discovery of documents linking Marcelle to money embezzled from the fund. Marcelle was the creator and manager of the fund beginning in 1999 when it was created.
Marcelle retired from the school in June 2013, according to Scheffert. She had worked as a technology integrationist, Scheffert said. On October 17, Marcelle's attorney accepted a citation on her behalf for Marcelle to appear in Vermont Superior Court Washington Criminal Division on December 4, 2014, to answer to the felony charge of embezzlement, a violation of Title 13 VSA section 2531.
Police reported that investigation revealed that prior to Marcelle's retirement, she closed the bank account associated with the Waitsfield Education Fund and used those funds for personal purposes. It is unclear how much money the Waitsfield Education Fund received during the existence period of 1999 to 2013 due to a lack of proper bookkeeping records maintained by Marcelle. However, investigation revealed at the start the fund received an estimated $38,000 in donated funds which was given under the stipulation that it would be a 50-50 match, therefore, making the starting point for the fund to be in excess of $76,000. When the bank account was closed, the balance was estimated to be $9,000.
"The funds in question were not school budgeted monies and, therefore, the school administration, superintendent of schools and WWSU director of finance had no responsibility for them or any access to the records or reporting. Following Act 60/68, several Vermont communities established private funding plans sourced through private donations and/or fundraising efforts operated as a 501c3 governed by independent boards. The Waitsfield Education Fund, Limited was one of these privately established funds. Kay Marcelle chaired this board, outside of school, while employed at Waitsfield Elementary School. She was authorized as signatory of both the checking account and credit card," Scheffert said.
"The school did receive computer equipment over the years donated from this fund. As Kay Marcelle's retirement approached, the school administration tried to determine the status of this private fund, if Marcelle would remain on the board and how much money was actually left in the account available to support technology equipment for Waitsfield Elementary students. I, through a preliminary investigation, determined that the 501c3 was never established and the IRS had no record of it. The case was reported to Vermont State Police for further investigation," she continued.
"The donations were intended for the benefit of Waitsfield Elementary School students to support acquisitions of technology. It is unfortunate that the generous donations given by members of the community were used for any other purposes than what it was intended for. Washington West Supervisory Union has systems in place to prevent fraudulent activity and unfortunately the Waitsfield Education Fund, Limited did not fall under the same guidelines," Scheffert said.
Anyone who has information to share is asked to contact Detective Thomas at the Middlesex barracks at (802) 229-9191.
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