Plymouth Superintendent Suspended After Arrest On Hebron Theft Allegations
By Steven Goode and David Owens, The Hartford Courant | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Cruz left
State police began investigating Cruz in
She was notified that a warrant had been issued for her arrest and turned herself in at the
Cruz was superintendent in
When Cruz left
"Other than the safety and education of the children in our district, the board has no more important responsibility than responsible stewardship of the funds entrusted to us by the people of
The school board took steps to recover money it said was misappropriated and recovered
"We, along with Superintendent
Cruz's attorney, John Gesmonde, has defended most of Cruz's credit card purchases, saying they were district-related. Food and water was for the central office staff and gardening supplies were for school employees to use, he said.
Gesmonde said on Thursday that only about
"We believe that the fraction that remains really has to do with contractual interpretation more than any evil intent," Gesmonde said. "We respect the process and will certainly have our opportunity to show these allegations are misplaced."
The charge against Cruz, first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, alleges the theft of
The arrest warrant affidavit was not available Thursday.
In
School board member
"I was advised by our board attorney to put her on administrative leave, paid leave, until we could get the matter resolved," Perugino said.
The audit turned up no problems with
"The board voted to bring her back on and I voted no," he said, adding that the allegations from Cruz's time in
The audit
--On
--Cruz charged
--She used the school credit card for
--In the fall of 2012, Cruz hired and paid a consultant
--Cruz used a school charge account at Ted's grocery store in
--Cruz used the school credit card for gardening and landscaping supplies. There were 23 charges totaling
--Cruz used the district credit card to make about
--She used the school card to make assorted purchases totaling about
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Cruz was suspended without pay in
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