Financial theft alleged at St. Charles East

St. Charles Unit District 303 will open the books on one of its 53 booster clubs stemming, in part, from a police report alleging the theft of athletic funds at St. Charles East High School.

Superintendent Don Schlomann Thursday announced an outside audit of the club will be done next week. The announcement comes one week after the police report was filed by a person who is not employed by the school district. The police will conduct its own investigation even as the audit occurs.

Schlomann said he has no reason to believe any of the allegations are true. However, with the recent firing of the varsity boys basketball coach and subsequent retirement announced by Jerry Krieg, the school’s athletic director, Schlomann said the sports administration at the school deserves a clean slate.

In the same vein, Schlomann said Krieg welcomes the audit during his final weeks at the school so he can leave without the hint of a dark cloud over his tenure.

District officials said none of the recent changes at the school are the result of the new allegations just now coming into the public light.

“When you do leadership changes it’s not uncommon that there’s some whispering over the backyard fence,” Schlomann said. “When that whispering starts involving money I want to make sure we’re very proactive about taking it seriously. We need to go over these rumors and make sure there’s a clear understanding of where all the dollars in regards to fundraising and booster clubs are at.”

Schlomann said the allegations detail a very specific set of actions regarding only one of the district’s 53 booster clubs. The charge is so specific that Schlomann expects the outside audit to take only one day to determine the validity of the charge.

The audit is slated for Friday, June 17. Schlomann said the results of the audit will be make public, possibly as soon as June 20.

Regardless of the outcome, Schlomann said last month he believes the district has far too many booster clubs and some changes with the current booster club system are in order.