A PTO has $30,000? more?

This morning's Northwest Herald carried an article about a Woodstock school's PTO missing over $30,000.

So my first thought was, why does a PTO have $30,000? Of course, it doesn't - anymore.

The article said the treasurer was arrested yesterday. Then, in the third paragraph from the end, it said the suspect was not the treasurer at the time of her arrest.

Laura Brokaw, 48, of Woodstock was accused of making off with $31.569 over a three-year period. You have to wonder why others weren't watching the cookie jar. What did the financial statements that should have been prepared yearly show? Didn't anyone at Northwood Middle School or District 200 headquarters lay the bank statement down alongside the PTO financial statement and start asking questions a long time ago?

Why would a PTO fund have so much money? If $30K was missing, what kind of balances does that fund keep? Why isn't it spent through the year? Or was the $30K that's missing set up to look like expenditures?

Weren't two signatures required on checks?

There is a $4,000 bond balance in the online court records, so her bail must be $40,000. Judge Prather will get a look at her on May 11 at 9:00AM.