Incomplete records left behind by Sarah Grace, former East Elementary Parent Teacher Organization treasurer, have made it nearly impossible for the group's current members to account for a $5,800 funding discrepancy or file their past-due tax exemption forms.
Grace, the Democratic candidate for representative of Ohio's 94th district, was the PTO treasurer from 2014 until June 30, 2016. On Tuesday, she said she was unaware of the current PTO board's troubles, and she filed the required form with the IRS.
"I met with the (new PTO board) several times on different occasions, including July," Grace said. "I didn't know they were having difficulties moving forward."
The current treasurer Sirlei Martin first noticed the discrepancy in the organization's funds in August, about a month after new PTO members took over.
The PTO then contacted Athens City School Superintendent Thomas Gibbs and asked a local public accountant to explain the difference.
Gibbs said he does not believe any money was missing, adding he recently went over the numbers with Grace. He said her report and the bank statements had similar outcomes.
Grace said the difference between the two statements was less than $100.
"Sometimes (the bank statements) don't always match up," Gibbs said. "Checks get sent that don't go through in time, things like that."
Gibbs said after a "pencil-and-paper" estimate, the numbers were close enough that he did not believe Grace had been a part of any wrongdoing.
"I'm as rigid in the law as anyone you'll meet," Gibbs said. "If I thought there was money missing, I would contact the authorities, but I do not expect there to be money missing."
According to meeting minutes from the PTO's July 12 meeting, new PTO President Lindsey Swank Meili and Martin had planned to meet with Grace the same day to obtain financial information from her time in the position. Grace delivered a bag to Martin on July 26 that contained the PTO checkbook and deposit slips, a binder of PTO deposits and expenses that covered 2010 to 2012, $168 in checks and $180 in cash, according to an email from the school's PTO account.
In the meeting minutes from Aug. 12, Martin said there was a roughly $5,800 discrepancy, and the budget numbers from the past few years had not yet been made available. On Aug. 26, almost two months after leaving office, Grace deposited a sum of $1,651.60 in both cash and check deposits earned from the school's book fair in May, according to meeting minutes.
Grace said she tried to meet with the new treasurer in June, but their schedules did not work out. She said she waited to deposit the money from the book fair because part of the amount was in checks.
"Some people had written fairly large checks for the book fair," Grace said. "I wanted to give them a heads up before depositing."
Alex Couladis, a local certified public accountant, was asked to review the PTO records shortly thereafter.
"When I added up the various funds and compared them to the bank account, they were off," Couladis said. "So in the end, I met with (Jonathan Sowash, an attorney) and asked him to reach out to (Grace)."
Sowash met with the PTO board to gain access to the treasurer's documents. Sowash then contacted Grace because the records were incomplete, and Couladis could not conduct an audit.
"There were some electronic files being sent around," Couladis recalled. "(The PTO board) was having trouble opening them."
Grace had used a program called "You Need A Budget," which was also used by Kristine Hayes, the treasurer before Grace. The new PTO board decided to use a different software, which Grace said might explain why Martin could not access the records. Grace said she put every file she had into Dropbox, a digital storage system, and she also put all the data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Grace said before Sowash contacted her, the new PTO board had asked her some logistical questions, like when certain checks cleared, but they did not ask for help to resolve the discrepancy.
"They did not once contact me and say, 'Hey, we're having trouble getting things to reconcile. Would you come in and go over this?' or 'We aren't able to access the software, would you be able to help us?' " Grace said.
The PTO said on Oct. 7 it would not pursue legal action against Grace, according to that day's PTO meeting minutes.
But the missing tax-exemption forms — also known as 990 postcards — could still impact the organization. If the group goes three years without filing, it could lose its tax-exempt status. As of Wednesday morning, the IRS website said the last 990 postcard was filed for 2013, which was the form filed immediately after Grace took office.
Grace said she remembered filing the form for the 2014 fiscal year, which would have been due July 2015.
"I don't know why the second filing isn't showing up (on the IRS' website)," Grace said.
The minutes from a meeting between Couladis and board members stated that without access to the complete records from Grace's tenure, the organization cannot conduct an audit that will allow it to file the form for fiscal year 2015.
In an Oct. 6 email, Couladis recommended the organization draft a budget based on the accurate cash balance. In the PTO's public statement, the group said it would "file taxes to bring us current."
Grace felt the controversy was created to hurt her in the election.
"The timing of the story coming out definitely feels like an intentional distraction from the actual issues," Grace said.
